Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil Review
by Boyd Petrie (respect AT aros DOT net)November 24th, 1997
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)
Rated R for language and brief violence
---------- Out of 4 stars: ***1/2 (3 1/2 Stars)
Starring: Kevin Spacey, John Cusack, Lady Chablis, Jude Law, Jack Thompson, Alison Eastwood.
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MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL's ad campaign is magnificent,
in my opinion. I first heard about this film upon seeing a magazing ad
for it; not from previews, not from word of mouth. Without seeing any
of the trailers, I immediately wanted to see it. If you haven't seen
this ad, I will explain a little. The ad shows a luscious green garden.
This garden is shot with a wide angle lens, and in the background, a
small green statue stands alone. Were it not for the ray of sunlight
hitting the statue, you probably wouldn't be able to see it. The visual
style of this ad is quite incredible, and this alone made me want to see it.
Now that I said that, I must admit that I have never read the book
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Despite this, the film
MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL is highly entertaining. For
more than 2 and a half hours, I sat enthralled by the eccentric
characters portrayed on screen. What makes it even more entertaining
is the fact that everything going on IS fact. The novel, written by
John Berendt, is a non-fiction book, and realizing this makes it a lot
more fun to watch. In fact, you don't necessarily watch this movie
-- you experience it.
A lot goes on in Clint Eastwood's film, and yet, it doesn't seem like
a typical Eastwood movie. It doesn't seem like a typical Hollywood
film, period. Eastwood is one of the few directors who have complete
control over every aspect of a movie (others include Stanley Kubrick
and Woody Allen). However, perhaps a little help could have aided
Eastwood with his version of the best-selling book. While it is
visually stunning, and very fun to watch, something is missing. Was
it present in the novel? Perhaps, but I can't be sure. The motion
picture lacks emotional connection with the audience, with many
characters who seem distant and superficial. Among them include one
of the main characters, John Kelso (John Cusack), a character loosely
based on Berendt himself. Kelso is the narrator and the audience's
representation on screen, yet we can't really relate to him. Cusack
has a very natural appearance, but his character was obviously
created for the film (I doubt Kelso was a physical character in the book).
MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN begins with Kelso arriving in Savannah, Georgia
to cover a Christmas party for a popular magazine. The party is hosted
by a rich Jim Williams (Kevin Spacey) who seemingly has something to
hide behind his suave persona. Williams takes Kelso on a tour of his
house, and explains that there will be two parties: one that night,
and one the next. The first is for bachelors only, and Kelso declines to
attend, but the next night, he does attend. There, he meets a wide
variety of characters from women who plan on shooting their husbands,
to a greasy-haired sex toy (Jude Law). That same night, Williams
shoots Billy Hanson (Law) in self-defense. Unfortunately, due to some
mysterious coincidences, Williams is thrown into jail to await a trial.
Perhaps Williams shot Billy for a different reason. The final hour
and a half of the film mainly focuses on the trial, which is actually
the slowest part of the entire movie. Before this, we get to see the
lifestyles of many of the characters.
The most interesting character is Williams, but the most fun to watch
is Lady Chablis (played by Ms. Chablis herself). Chablis is a wildly
colorful character, who needs to go to a doctor in order to get female
hormone injections (if you know what I mean). If you don't know what
I mean, Chablis is a transvestite. Chablis steals many scenes and
gives one of the most memorable performances in the film. In fact,
the entire first hour and a half is extremely entertaining, as we get
to watch all these wacky characters arrive on screen. Perhaps the only
throw-away character is Mandy Nichols (Alison Eastwood), the love
interest of Kelso. The relationship seems artificial, and Nichols is
one of the few "normal" characters present. I wonder what purpose
her character really served other than to make ol' Pop proud. Most
of the other characters, however, do have some different way of doing
things: one guy has flies attached to hiim and threatens to poison the
town's water supply if the food isn't good; another guy walks an
imaginary dog who died several years earlier. Minerva (Irma P. Hall)
is a voodoo expert who helps Williams with his conscience, in a way.
Then there is Sonny Seiler (Jack Thompson), the defense attorney
working for Williams. Seiler is one of the best characters in the
film, and his courtroom scenes almost seen ripped from a John Grisham
novel. And then there is Judge Oliver (played by the real Sonny Seiler)
whose reactions seem natural and unforced.
The trial itself is the moral standing point of the film. We learn
secrets hidden by characters, and some seem to play an outcome in
the trial. Williams reveals that Billy was his lover, at which
point the jury seems fixated on convicting him... not for murdering
a human being, but for being homosexual. With this revelation, other
characters also begin to reveal secrets, from an emergency room nurse
who bagged the hands of the victim, to the friend of Billy (who also
reveals homosexual tendencies). Many of these courtroom scenes could
have been overacted and played foolishly, but Eastwood restrains his
actors and holds them back. As a result, everything which occurs
seems very realistic. We are not forced to having miraculous
discoveries which lead to the conviction or release of a character,
as in other courtroom dramas; instead, everything occurs at an easy
pace with no scene being rushed anymore than it has to. The final
outcome subtley reflects the title perfectly: Midnight in the Garden
of Good and Evil.
Despite all the characters and plots and subplots, the most impressive
thing about MIDNIGHT is the technical details. Eastwood's Savannah
seems to jump right off the screen with lush greens and moody oranges.
I could almost smell the moisture in the air. The set design is very
impressive, though probably could have been even more outrageous than
what it is. The most memorable aspect of this set, of course, is the
smaller version of the Lady of Justice statue. This little green
statue has a face of mystery and wonder, holding one plate in each
hand (again, symbolic of the title). Eastwood bookends the film with
this statue: one shot of it at the title scene, and one at the very end,
which holds as the credits roll by. The cinematography, by Jack N.
Green, adds a lot to the visuals, but Eastwood isn't another David
Fincher (THE GAME). His visuals are relaxed and more unfocused. The
music, composed by Lennie Niehaus, is haunting and pleasant to listen
to. The adapted screenplay is one of the highlights, with smart
dialogue and an unusual story structure. You can never tell where the
film might go next. This unpredictability is very much welcome by
this reviewer, especially after seeing films like THE JACKAL.
MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL is rated R for language and
brief violence. Most of the language comes from Lady Chablis whose
comedy act is riddled with sexual innuendos and funny one-liners.
MIDNIGHT is one of those few films which time seems irrelevant, as the
154 minute long film flew by. If the movie does have flaws, it is
mainly from the lack of emotional connection with the audience. In
fact, I'm pretty sure that MIDNIGHT was a very difficult film to
adapt for the screen. Watching this movie makes me want to read the
novel, but I think that would just spoil the fun of this movie. Maybe not.
Reviewed by Respect ([email protected])
http://www.aros.net/~respect/movies.html
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