It's a sunny day in Mexico when this film begins. Shiny blue water shimmers on the screen and two lovers frolic at a beach resort. By the end, things have become significantly darker and ominous. So goes the aptly named "Twilight," a film where light and dark intermingle throughout every scene.
Technically, the film is about a murder mystery, not chiaroscuro. Harry Ross, played nicely by Paul Newman, is an ex-cop, ex-private detective, ex-husband and ex-father. After his last stint as a PI results in his being shot in the groin, Ross is given free room and board out of pity from his employers, Jack and Catherine Ames (Gene Hackman and Susan Sarandon). All Ross has to do is housework and menial jobs.
Those menial jobs turn out to be deadlier than getting basil at the supermarket. Ross agrees to hand-deliver a package from Jack to a woman named Gloria (Margo Martindale). However, when Ross arrives at her address, he finds a wheezing, bloodied man (an almost unrecognizable M. Emmet Walsh), and the mystery begins.
Writers Robert Benton and Richard Russo do a nice job of crafting an engaging mystery, but their real success is creating interesting and realistic characters. All of them seem to have a skeleton in their closet -- literally and figuratively -- and heavy personal issues to deal with.
Figuring out who killed who is not too difficult, nor is it a detraction because the movie is more than the mystery. The film is about people past, during, or waiting for their prime, and in this way "Twilight" is able to stay strong and sometimes poignant, even when the mystery thins out.
A sporadic narration and an omnipresent and somewhat annoying score by Elmer Bernstein are reminiscent of past eras of filmmaking. Here, the film is like the characters who often revisit and are nostalgic for the past. However, the entire film has the feeling of a 1970s film trying to capture the essence of a forties film. This creates a strange tone throughout that is distracting enough to undermine the movie to a certain degree.
While the film flounders with tone, it is stronger with visuals. Light and dark seem to be at a constant war in every frame. Bright images are tainted by lurking shadows, and dark rooms are pierced with gleaming lights. Reflections are also used immensely with mirrors, window panes, water and even walls, giving the film another aesthetic bonus point.
Of course, the film is not a case of style over substance. These cinematic touches relate to the characters who all have fine mixtures of light and dark in them, and whose actions reflect much more than their words.
The cast is very good as a whole. All the actors are seasoned veterans and seem to be having fun in their noirish roles. Aside from Newman, Sarandon and Hackman, the cast includes a fragile Stockard Channing and a jokey James Garner. Some of the younger faces include Liev Schreiber as a likable thug and Reese Witherspoone who is surprisingly effective as the Ames' daughter.
Still, while "Twilight" has a strong cast, an interesting plot and eye-catching visuals, the film, directed by Robert Benton ("Kramer vs. Kramer"), never seems to be completely involving. Benton adopts the leisurely pace that worked so well in his previous Newman vehicle, "Nobody's Fool." The tone is muddled and the picture doesn't have the clear grasp of its subject matter that another film noir of the moment, "L.A. Confidential," has.
It would be hard to imagine "Twilight" having a strong commercial run. There's very little violence, and hardly any sex, although I was amused at the random frequency of topless women at the beginning of the film. Still, I can imagine that "Twilight" will do well on video. The film has a certain quiet quality about it that should work nicely on a rainy Friday night.
