Newman brings panache to age-old noir tale

TWILIGHT (1998)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

"Twilight" is as much about growing older with grace and wisdom than it is about its fairly tame noir plot, which could be written in the back of a napkin in one sentence. You know, there is a dubious suicide that has frustrated a cynical detective and it is about to be solved as a murder with probable suspect(s). Nothing new here nor does "Twilight" bring anything new into the mix - there is no Tarantinian or Coen Brothers mix of urgency and neo-noir twists in its plotting at all. What it reminds us of is the noir tales from the 40's, its only updates being that it was shot in color and it has a little more graphic violence, yet all told with Paul Newman's voice-over as the retired detective on one last call to right some wrongs.

It makes little sense to divulge much of the slim plot beyond a 20-year-old suicide of a man who was Catherine Ames' first husband, Catherine played by the always stunning Susan Sarandon. Catherine is a former actress married to former actor Jack Ames (Gene Hackman), who is dying of cancer. Jack asks Harry (Paul Newman), retired cop and detective and living with the Ames rent-free, to deliver a package to some address. This turns out to be payoff money that leads to the murder of another detective (M. Emmett Walsh, one of the shortest cameos he has ever given in a movie) who had investigated the decades-long suicide. The bare-bones plot involves some silly business with Harry's former Mexican sidekick who is more than a little inept, a fight in the beach that is awkwardly shot, some random shootings and a guy's head thrust into a plate of chicken wings.

The best parts of "Twilight" are the conversations between the real pros, the consummate actors of our collective film history, playing characters we love to listen to. Gene Hackman is always watchable despite not having much of a role to play here. James Garner is a magnetic actor who can make any line of dialogue sparkle - his last scene with Newman is a revelation in its subtlety. Same with Susan Sarandon, though her one scene of rage comes off a bit forced. The whole film could've chucked its plot and been about older people reminiscing about the good old days and that would've been right at home with writer-director Robert Benton (who previously helmed the wonderful "Nobody's Fool" with Newman, another graceful role about aging). But this movie truly belongs to Paul Newman, at the time 73-years-old, who brings finesse and grace to a tired detective who has seen it all. He is like fine wine and gets better with age, giving a slightly mediocre script and perfunctory murder plot a dose of real style and panache.