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Pretty much panned by the critics for its obviousness and stereotypical characters Flawless definitely struggled to find an audience. I discovered this for myself one Wednesday evening a few weeks ago when I had the unmatchable experience of sitting and watching a film in an entirely deserted auditorium.

My local multiplex has a series of one night only "Director's Chair" performances of less mainstream films in a doomed and seemingly bankrupting stab at artistic credibility and it was at the one for "Flawless" that I was more alone than Tom Hanks after a plane crash. One unexpected upside of this was that the trailer for The Mummy Returns actually became scary (those pygmies running at the camera, ooh) the downside was that for the first few minutes I wasn't sure that I was in the right film. I knew that this was supposed to be the latest offering by Batman and Robin's Joel Schumacher and starred Philip Seymour Hoffman (reason for being there) and Robert de Niro (alright I guess) about a transvestite and a stroke victim. The lo-fi 80's style opening and scenes of some sort of gang robbery had me baffled. But then again I was distracted by wondering how it could be the case that I was the only person in my whole town prepared to pay to see Philip Seymour Hoffman in a dress! The film was a few months old by then but it hadn't been shown locally before and surely Robert de Niro was an obvious crowd pleaser? Obviously not.*

I have never been in an entirely empty cinema before (and believe me that with some of the dross I am prepared to go see it has been a close run thing) but in the end the film itself was, I thought (and I give them permission to use this on the posters), not as bad as it could have been. Mainly due to a sublime performance on Hoffman's part and some quite funny campery. Indeed Total Film's summary of it as "eminently missable" seemed to me to be (although obviously this was a minority view) rather unfair. For me the only problem was the stereotype driven characters, especially annoying was de Niro. I hate characters in films who are rude to everyone but get way with it because people realise that they are good guys really. I mean, that never happens, you will never think to yourself "oh that man has just sworn at me, insulted my sexuality, and slammed a door in my face. He must be a genuine good hearted character who has been through a lot and just needs some time and some kindness to bring him out of his shell. I know, I'll throw a party for him". This is obviously an oversimplification of the plot but it is in its echoes of "As Good As It Gets" that this movie fails to convince.

The saving grace is that Hoffman never fails to convince. Watch the closing credits, while de Niro slips in and out of character, especially when he laughs, Hoffman is totally in his part the whole time. It is in his ability to truly inhabit a character and so rise above the material he is given that makes Hoffman an actor who actually succeeds in raising the material too. While I might never see this film again ordinarily it is the memory of Rusty wearing a suit and sitting crying on the stairwell that will, sooner rather than later, lead me to Blockbusters to give it another chance.

 

*Now I realise that the problem is with Joel Schumacher as Tigerland hasn't been released locally either.

-- Shelley

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This page last updated December 14, 2002