Twilight (1998)

[5]

Paul Newman stars in this L.A. detective story from director Robert Benton (Kramer vs Kramer), about a down-on-his-luck P.I. who lives with two movie stars (Susan Sarandon and Gene Hackman) who are married to each other. Newman starts to get suspicious, though, when Hackman sends him to deliver money to someone, only to discover a murder has taken place. The murder leads to clues about another death twenty years ago, and Newman can’t shake his suspicions that Sarandon and/or Hackman are involved.

Despite two murders and a possible cover-up, Twilight somehow manages to be one of the sleepiest noir movies around. Newman plays it so laid back, it sometimes feels like he’s sleepwalking through the material. The film has a few startling moments, including Newman’s escape from a zombie-like, bleeding but armed M. Emmet Walsh, but is otherwise unable to ratchet up much suspense or pathos. But the film’s not a total wash. It comes to life when co-stars James Garner, Stockard Channing, and Margo Martindale show up. Reese Witherspoon is also thrown in to the mix, if only to show us her bare breasts and then disappear. Elmer Bernstein’s throwback score is also an strong point.

With Giancarlo Esposito, John Spencer, and Liev Schreiber.

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