Twilight (1998 film)
| Twilight | |
|---|---|
_poster.jpg) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Robert Benton |
| Written by | Robert Benton Richard Russo |
| Produced by | Scott Rudin |
| Starring | Paul Newman Susan Sarandon Gene Hackman Reese Witherspoon Stockard Channing James Garner |
| Cinematography | Piotr Sobocinski |
| Edited by | Carol Littleton |
| Music by | Elmer Bernstein |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date | March 6, 1998 |
Running time | 94 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $37 million |
| Box office | $15,055,091[1] |
Twilight is a 1998 thriller/Neo-noir film directed by Robert Benton, written by Benton and Richard Russo, and stars Paul Newman, Susan Sarandon, Gene Hackman, Reese Witherspoon, Stockard Channing and James Garner. The film's original music score was composed by Elmer Bernstein.
Plot
Aging private detective Harry Ross, an ex-cop, is working on a case to return 17-year-old Mel Ames to her home. He tracks down Mel and her sleazy boyfriend, Jeff Willis, at a Mexican resort. During a struggle with the reluctant runaway, Harry's gun is discharged, striking him in the upper thigh.
Two years go by. Ross is living in southern California in the guest quarters of Mel's wealthy parents, Jack and Catherine Ames. They are former film industry bigwigs, now in the twilight of their years. Jack is dying of cancer, and he and Ross pass time playing cards.
One day, Jack asks a favor of Harry—to deliver a package at an address in Los Angeles. It turns out to be the first development in a series of twists and turns in a 20-year-old case involving the disappearance of Catherine's ex-husband.
When Harry arrives to deliver the package, he encounters a man named Ivar, who has just been shot. Harry is detained by police, including a former colleague, Lt. Verna Hollander. At the police station, he runs into another old pal and colleague, now retired, Raymond Hope.
Verna and Raymond are both sympathetic because they have heard rumors that Harry's penis had been shot off in Mexico. Harry later hears this from Raymond, and explains that he was only shot in the thigh.
Harry likes Catherine, who flirts with him from time to time. He acts as an agent between Jack and Catherine and a parole officer and Jeff, who is now an ex-con.
Harry and Catherine have sex for the first (and only) time; Jack angrily realizes this when he has a heart attack that same night, and Catherine responds to his call for help wearing Harry's shirt.
Harry, meanwhile, is forced to face the reality that his friends have been deceitful and manipulative of him.
Raymond tries to persuade Harry to get away from it all, but Harry has figured it out that Raymond has been a conspirator in the 20-year-old murder of Catherine's first husband. Raymond shoots at Harry, but Harry kills him first. Following this shooting, Harry reconciles with Catherine and Jack, but leaves their employ and leaves town with Verna.
Cast
- Paul Newman as Harry Ross
- Susan Sarandon as Catherine Ames
- Gene Hackman as Jack Ames
- Reese Witherspoon as Mel Ames
- Stockard Channing as Lt. Verna Hollander
- James Garner as Raymond Hope
- Giancarlo Esposito as Reuben Escobar
- Liev Schreiber as Jeff Willis
- Margo Martindale as Gloria Lamar ("Mucho")
- John Spencer as Capt. Phil Egan
- M. Emmet Walsh as Lester Ivar
- Clint Howard as EMS Worker
Production
The working title for Twilight was "The Magic Hour".[2] Parts of the movie were filmed at the Los Angeles Police Department's Hollywood Division Station house. Many of the police officers seen in the background are actual police officers.[3]
Reception
While the film featured many notable A-list actors, Twilight's budget of $37,000,000 and gross revenue of $15,055,091 indicates that it was a box office bomb.
The film received mixed reviews from critics, as it holds a 59% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 54 reviews. The consensus states: "It suffers from a frustratingly deliberate pace, but with nuanced performances from Paul Newman, Gene Hackman, Susan Sarandon and Reese Witherspoon to fall back on, Twilight can't help but be compelling".
Entertainment Weekly critic Owen Gleiberman gave the film a C+ grade. He wrote it was meant to be "...about the relationship between a semiretired gumshoe (Paul Newman) and two veteran movie stars (Gene Hackman and Susan Sarandon)..." but was actually "...about the trio of aging stars who play them."[4]
Barbara Shulgasser of the San Francisco Examiner called it a "dazzlingly smart script by Benton and co-writer Richard Russo." She went on to write: "Twilight is as close to a perfect film as I've seen in a long while."[5]
Heather Clisby of Movie Magazine International described it as "one of those films where everybody involved seems to have actually cared, thus we have a superb product with memorable characters brought to life by some of the finest actors of our time."[6]
DVD
The DVD was released on October 7, 1998 in Widescreen. Features included: English closed captioning, Spanish sub-titles, and the theatrical trailer which included scenes that were not included in the movie.[3][7]
References
- ^ "Twilight (1998)". TheNumbers.com. Retrieved 2009-01-23.
- ^ "Twilight (1998)". Internet Movie DataBase. Retrieved 2009-01-23.
- ^ a b "Trivia for Twilight (1998)". imdb.com. Retrieved 2009-01-23.
- ^ Gleiberman, Owen; ew.com (March 13, 1998). "Twilight – Movie Review; Old Glory (1998)". Entertainment Weekly. pp. D. Retrieved 2009-01-23.
- ^ Shulgasser, Barbara (March 6, 1998). "Newman shines in "Twilight"". San Francisco Chronicle. pp. D. Retrieved 2009-01-23.
- ^ Clisby, Heather (March 4, 1998). "MMI Movie Review: Twilight". shoestring.org. Retrieved 2009-01-23.
- ^ "Twilight (1998) - DVD details". imdb.com. Retrieved 2009-01-23.
- Twilight (Widescreen). Robert Benton. Paramount. 1998 [1998]. ISBN 0-7921-5291-3. 334957.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
External links
- Twilight at IMDb
- Twilight at Box Office Mojo
- Twilight at AllMovie
- Twilight at Rotten Tomatoes
