Newman Bright In ‘Twilight’
Harry Ross isn’t a private eye; he’s a retired private eye. And “Twilight” isn’t so much a detective story as it is a story about a man who used to be a detective.
The difference is subtle but crucial.
This is a film about opportunities lost, and most of the characters seem almost ghostly. It’s only stretching things a little to say that “Twilight” is the first thriller set in the afterlife.
Luckily, the movie has Paul Newman at the center of it. Without him, “Twilight” might’ve just faded off into its own gray ghostliness.
Newman is rather gray, too, but in a distinctive, flinty way. As the husky-voiced Harry, he is so darn flinty, in fact, that if you struck a match on his chin, you might set his mustache on fire.
Early in “Twilight,” Harry takes on a special assignment for an old friend, a former movie star named Jack Ames (Gene Hackman), who says that he is dying.
But what at first seems to be a simple favor for a doomed buddy turns into a complex murder mystery involving betrayal and blackmail.
Robert Benton — who directed this film and, with Richard Russo, wrote it — isn’t big on melodrama. Benton (“Nobody’s Fool”) seems to want to tell an emotionally authentic crime story about people who have gone past the end of their ropes — twilight souls who aren’t “all there” anymore.
It’s an intriguing approach and, of course, a tall order. As things turn out, “Twilight” is worth a look mainly for the performance of Newman, who doesn’t so much save the picture as provide a reason for its very existence.
At 73, Paul Newman is self-aware enough to use his advancing age as part of the characters he plays, rather than trying to conceal the obvious, as other actors sometimes do.
The script emphasizes Harry’s fading powers by presenting him as an alcoholic. And there’s even a running gag about an old injury that may or may not have left him (how to put this?) without the ability to have sex.
Newman brings off the joke with good grace, just as he brings an astonishing self-assurance to the role of a past-his-prime investigator.
If Newman carries the film, he is hardly alone in it. As Jack, Hackman gives a solid, old-pro performance. So does James Garner, who plays an old friend of Jack.
Susan Sarandon is appropriately enigmatic as Jack’s wife. And as Harry’s old flame, Stockard Channing gives the film’s wittiest performance. xxxx “Twilight” Locations: North Division, Spokane Valley Mall, Showboat Credits: Directed by Robert Benton, starring Paul Newman, Susan Sarandon, Gene Hackman, James Garner and Stockard Channing Running time: 1:35 Rating: R