Rent Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)
3.3 of 5 from 104 ratings
2h 29min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- The most important party of the Savannah Christmas season ends with a bang! When affable host Jim Williams (Kevin Spacey) shoots a man to death. The party is over, the mystery begins. Director Clint Eastwood weaves murder, mystery and voodoo into a sumptuous adaptation of the John Berendt bestseller based on true events. Spacey and John Cusack as a journalist drawn to Savannah's decadence and eccentrics lead a nimble cast that includes Jack Thompson, Alison Eastwood and The Lady Chablis.
- Actors:
- John Cusack, Kevin Spacey, Jack Thompson, Irma P. Hall, Jude Law, Alison Eastwood, Paul Hipp, Lady Chablis, Dorothy Loudon, Anne Haney, Kim Hunter, Geoffrey Lewis, Richard Herd, Leon Rippy, Bob Gunton
- Directors:
- Clint Eastwood
- Writers:
- John Berendt, John Lee Hancock
- Studio:
- Warner
- Genres:
- Drama, Lesbian & Gay
- Collections:
- A History of Gay Cinema: According to Hollywood, Getting to Know: Clint Eastwood
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Reviews (1) of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Sultry Deep South Courtroom Drama with Stellar Cast - Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil review by PV
The first thing to say about this movie is that it's directed by Clint Eastwood - which means it's too long (all his movies are).
The second thing is that it's based on a novel, thank goodness, so not even Clint can ruin it.
Thirdly, it has a stellar cast: Kevin Spacey, John Cusack and Jude Law doing a perfectly impression of a southern white trash hustler. Despite the big names, the real-life drag queen steals the show - Lady Chablis or something. You can tell s/he's not an actor, and all the better for it - s/he plays real life, but we are all on a stage and are merely players playing roles, after all.
It's slow to start with and THERE ARE NO SUBTITLES or options at the start - the movie just starts. Subtitles would have been useful even for the non-deaf coz of all the deep south accents.
The addition of a supernatural very black deep South theme and requisite crazy lady seems as though it won't work but it does - maybe because the Deep South culture - sultry, backwards, heavy with history - is so different and alien from the context of most US-set movies.
The ending - well, no spoilers. But personally I don't think it was necessary - but anyway.
Best of all is the music - they visit the house of lyricist Johnny Mercer's great grandfather in the movie, and most songs are from 30s, 40s, 50s and co-written by him, which is damn clever! Great songs too - Skylark and many others.
All in all, a slow burner of a movie BUT if you're in the right mood and have patience, this is really a very good watch. 4 stars.
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