MORE COLOR TO GARDEN THAN JUST FLOWERS
Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil A Film Review By Michael Redman Copyright 1997 By Michael Redman
*** (Out of ****)
There's something about the American South that has always captured the imagination of the rest of the country. Perhaps it's the easy-going tranquil lifestyle, almost-courtly manners and abundance of charming eccentrics that are so appealing. Or maybe it's the knowledge that just beneath the surface of all that, there's a whole lot of _other things_ going on.
New York writer John Kelso (John Cusack) arrives in Savannah, Georgia to do a 500-word "postcard" article about the former. He's to attend the exclusive elegant Christmas party of nouveau riche Jim "But it's the riche that matters" Williams (Kevin Spacey) and describe the city's finest for "Town And Country" magazine. The moneyed antique dealer is instantly personable in that "Here have a drink and let me show you what else I own" way.
After the party it turns out that the journalist has a rendezvous with the latter when his refined host kills a young hustler with a Luger he keeps in his desk drawer. It is revealed that Williams' victim is his gay lover who has been servicing many of society's elite of both sexes. Kelso smells a book possibility and stays on. He agrees to investigate the case in exchange for exclusive literary rights after Williams is tossed into jail and scheduled for trial.
What he uncovers is more than just what's going on under the sheets of the beautiful sleepy delta town spared by General Sherman during his march to the sea. The cast of colorful characters wouldn't seem out of place in an episode of "Twin Peaks".
An elderly black man who walks an invisible long-dead Labrador with a visible leash every morning. Society matrons discuss the handguns their husbands used to commit suicide. A disbarred attorney-turned piano player whose life is an eternal party and serves hors d'oeuvres outside the murder scene lives next door to Williams' block-long mansion. An inventor screwed out of his royalties keeps a swarm of pet horseflies with him, attached by strings to his clothes. Minerva (Irma P. Hall), the local Voodoo priestess conducts a midnight ritual at the grave of the murdered boy.
Best of all is a professional drag queen, the Lady Chablis (played by her...err...himself). An outspoken bad girl with and a sense of drama and style that leaves most of the real women in the dust, the lady is unsuccessful in tempting Kelso to sample her "candy", although the two form an unlikely friendship.
As the writer tells his editor "Everyone here is drunk and heavily armed. New York is boring!"
Based on John Berendt's massive best-selling book about his real life experiences in the eighties, the film attempts to be a mixture of mystery, courtroom drama and a search for morality. It's not snappy enough to succeed as a detective tale. Although Williams' lawyer, the smooth good ol' boy Sonny Seiler (Jack Thompson) has his moments, the trial scenes also don't have much of a punch.
Thank heaven for the offbeat personalities. Like a lazy southern river, the film is not in any hurry and meanders here and there, rounding this bend and spending a little time before drifting elsewhere. The only reason it works as well as it does is that there is so much to look at and take in. The experience is like being a tourist wandering through unfamiliar territory. If the movie relied solely on its plot, it would be a riverboat dead in the water on a sand bar.
Clint Eastwood seems determined to direct films that are opposites of the ones he starred in. No one could mistake this or his "The Bridges Of Madison County" for a Dirty Harry movie.
Cusack puts in a fine performance as the wide-eyed big city Yankee constantly demonstrating his awe at each new weirdness. He's accumulated quite a history of roles and is becoming a personal favorite. Spacey is also in top form and pulls off the difficult fusion of likable genteel socialite with a sleazy underbelly. Hall's font of wisdom is endearing when she pops up throughout the film talking to the dead boy and squirrels. Eastwood's daughter Alison is enticing as Kelso's love interest although the role doesn't add much to the movie.
It is the Lady Chablis that steals the show. Just as you are starting to watch the film through half-closed eyes, she appears on the scene with a burst of energy. The lady has sparks shooting off of her wherever she goes. In a city where everyone else strolls down the boulevard, she struts loud and proud.
At well over two hours, the film could have used some editing, but then it wouldn't have that languid southern charm. It makes you wish that movie theaters came equipped with verandas and mint juleps so you could sit back with your feet up and feast your eyes.
[This appeared in the 11/26/97 "Bloomington Voice", Bloomington, Indiana]
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