Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil
(1997)
|
Bringing John Berendt's international best-selling novel, MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL, to the screen must have been a challenge. The book is essentially an anecdotal travelogue of the fascinating city of Savannah, Georgia. The filmmakers decided to add a character, John Kelso (well played by John Cusack), a writer from New York, who's meant to represent Berendt's point of view. They also put most of the focus of the narrative on the murder trial of local millionaire socialite Jim Williams (the redoubtable Kevin Spacey). This is slightly problematic in that Kelso, a mere observer, now becomes the central character of the film. But director Clint Eastwood (straying from his usual milieu, and, atypically, not appearing the film) and writer John Lee Hancock still manage to capture the quirky spirit of the book. They're greatly aided in this regard by the lush images of cinematographer Jack N. Green and the detailed work of production designer Henry Bumstead, who create just the right atmosphere for the small city and its environs. The strong cast, including actual Savannah residents such as sparkplug transsexual the Lady Chablis, makes the film an enjoyable idyll in a strange yet welcoming place. |
John Berendt's bestseller was an audacious blend of travel journalism and true-life crime that gave a tremendous boost to the tourist industry of Savannah, Georgia. This long and leisurely adaptation by Clint Eastwood is so seduced by the town's sultry, seedy atmosphere — those overstuffed mansions and steamy streets with oak trees draped with Spanish Moss — that the plot sometimes seems incidental. John Cusack plays the naive New York journalist who stumbles into Savannah's sinister underbelly, meeting Kevin Spacey's wealthy antiques dealer and getting lost in a demimonde of soirées, rent boys and murder. Under-rated by most critics, this grows in stature and lingers long in the memory even if it is somewhat compromised by the excessive amount of screen time Eastwood affords secondary characters (especially his own daughter, Alison).
Halliwell's Film Guide
Overlong retelling of a true story in an exotic setting; the leisurely style allows room for the characters to flower, but at the expense of the narrative tension.