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It was my understanding that this Clint Eastwood film got panned.
For the life of me, I don't understand why. A meandering, rich
story of a murder involving a closeted homosexual socialite
(Kevin Spacey) in Savannah, Niner gives it the two thumbs up.
Driven largely by performance, Spacey is - as usual - difficult
to miss. He acts with his eyes, and this is but another
intriguing performance in his impressive streak - Usual Suspects,
Seven, LA Confidential. Eastwood the director rushes nothing. The film is over
two-an-a-half hours long, but it did not seem so, mainly because
John Cusack is our guide to this peculiar Southern town, the
Eastern writer bewildered by it all. Another understated actor,
the scenes between he and Spacey are almost telepathic.
Eastwood's daughter is winning (no Sofia Coppola problem here),
and the film is stolen in many ways by a drag queen - The Lady
Chablis - who vamps her way across the town (her crashing of a
society ball for debutantes is priceless).
Best, the film is successful at being really not about a whole
lot but the town. For some reason, I was reminded of Johns
Sayles' "Lone Star", but that may not be apt. In
"Garden", though, even the murder is incidental to the
tour of the town and all of its characters. A charming film -
note, however, I watched it over two nights. That may have
helped.
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