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Twilight (1998 film)
Encyclopedia
Twilight is a 1998
thriller/Neo-noir
film directed by Robert Benton
. It stars Paul Newman
, Susan Sarandon
, Gene Hackman
, Reese Witherspoon
, Stockard Channing
, and James Garner
. The screenplay was written by Benton and Richard Russo
, and the original music score was composed by Elmer Bernstein
.
Two years go by. Ross is living in southern California
in the guest quarters of Mel's wealthy parents, Jack and Catherine Ames. They are former film industry bigwigs, now in the twilight of their years. Jack is dying of cancer, and he and Ross pass time playing cards.
One day, Jack asks a favor of Harry—to deliver a package. It turns out to be the first development in a series of twists and turns in a 20-year-old case involving the disappearance of Catherine's ex-husband.
A man named Ivar is murdered at the proposed meeting place where Harry was to bring the package. Harry is detained by police, including a close friend, Lt. Verna Hollander. At the police station, he runs into another old pal and colleague, now retired, Raymond Hope.
Verna and Raymond are both sympathetic because they have heard rumors that Harry was shot two years ago not in the thigh but between the legs. He assures them that it is not true.
Harry has a developing interest in Catherine and ends up in bed with her one night. He also is blackmailed by a parole officer called Mucho, who describes herself as "Mucho Hair, Mucho Tits," and by Mel's old boyfriend, Jeff, now an ex-con.
A dying Jack Ames feels betrayed that Harry has had a fling with his wife. Harry, meanwhile, is forced to face the reality that his friends have been deceitful and manipulative of him.
Raymond Hope tries to persuade Harry to get away from it all, but Harry has figured it out that Hope has been on-the-take and a conspirator in the 20-year-old murder of Catherine's first husband. A showdown ensues in Raymond's glass-walled hillside home.
actors,Twilight's budget of $37,000,000 and gross revenue of $15,055,091 indicates that it was a box office bomb
.
Entertainment Weekly critic Owen Gleiberman gave the film a C+ grade. He wrote it was meant to be "...about the relationship between a semiretired gumshoe (Paul Newman) and two veteran movie stars (Gene Hackman and Susan Sarandon)..." but was actually "...about the trio of aging stars who play them."
Barbara Shulgasser of the San Francisco Examiner called it a "dazzlingly smart script by Benton and co-writer Richard Russo." She went on to write: "Twilight is as close to a perfect film as I've seen in a long while."
Heather Clisby of Movie Magazine International described it as "one of those films where everybody involved seems to have actually cared, thus we have a superb product with memorable characters brought to life by some of the finest actors of our time."
1998 in film
-Events:* February 14 - Sharon Stone marries Phil Bronstein.* Former child star Gary Coleman is charged with assaulting a young female bus driver at a California shopping mall.-Top grossing films:...
thriller/Neo-noir
Neo-noir
Neo-noir is a style often seen in modern motion pictures and other forms that prominently utilize elements of film noir, but with updated themes, content, style, visual elements or media that were absent in films noir of the 1940s and 1950s.-History:The term Film Noir was coined by...
film directed by Robert Benton
Robert Benton
Robert Douglas Benton is an American screenwriter and film director.Benton was born in Waxahachie, Texas, the son of Dorothy and Ellery Douglass Benton, a telephone company employee. He attended the University of Texas and Columbia University. Benton has won numerous awards for both writing and...
. It stars Paul Newman
Paul Newman
Paul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, professional racing driver and auto racing enthusiast...
, Susan Sarandon
Susan Sarandon
Susan Sarandon is an American actress. She has worked in films and television since 1969, and won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the 1995 film Dead Man Walking. She had also been nominated for the award for four films before that and has received other recognition for her...
, Gene Hackman
Gene Hackman
Eugene Allen "Gene" Hackman is an American actor and novelist.Nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two, Hackman has also won three Golden Globes and two BAFTAs in a career that spanned five decades. He first came to fame in 1967 with his performance as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde...
, Reese Witherspoon
Reese Witherspoon
Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon , better known as Reese Witherspoon, is an American actress and film producer. Witherspoon landed her first feature role as the female lead in the film The Man in the Moon in 1991; later that year she made her television acting debut, in the cable movie Wildflower...
, Stockard Channing
Stockard Channing
Stockard Channing is an American stage, film and television actress. She is known for her portrayal of First Lady Abbey Bartlet in the NBC television series The West Wing; for playing Betty Rizzo in the film Grease; and for her role as Ouisa Kittredge in the play Six Degrees of Separation and its...
, and James Garner
James Garner
James Garner is an American film and television actor, one of the first Hollywood actors to excel in both media. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades...
. The screenplay was written by Benton and Richard Russo
Richard Russo
Richard Russo is an American novelist, short story writer, screenwriter, and teacher.-Early life and education:Russo was born in Johnstown, New York, and raised in nearby Gloversville...
, and the original music score was composed by Elmer Bernstein
Elmer Bernstein
Elmer Bernstein was an American composer and conductor best known for his many film scores. In a career which spanned fifty years, he composed music for hundreds of film and television productions...
.
Plot
Aging private detective Harry Ross, an ex-cop, is working on a case to return 17-year-old Mel Ames to her home. He tracks down Mel and her sleazy boyfriend, Jeff Willis, at a motel. During a struggle with the reluctant runaway, Harry's gun is discharged, striking him in the upper thigh.Two years go by. Ross is living in southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
in the guest quarters of Mel's wealthy parents, Jack and Catherine Ames. They are former film industry bigwigs, now in the twilight of their years. Jack is dying of cancer, and he and Ross pass time playing cards.
One day, Jack asks a favor of Harry—to deliver a package. It turns out to be the first development in a series of twists and turns in a 20-year-old case involving the disappearance of Catherine's ex-husband.
A man named Ivar is murdered at the proposed meeting place where Harry was to bring the package. Harry is detained by police, including a close friend, Lt. Verna Hollander. At the police station, he runs into another old pal and colleague, now retired, Raymond Hope.
Verna and Raymond are both sympathetic because they have heard rumors that Harry was shot two years ago not in the thigh but between the legs. He assures them that it is not true.
Harry has a developing interest in Catherine and ends up in bed with her one night. He also is blackmailed by a parole officer called Mucho, who describes herself as "Mucho Hair, Mucho Tits," and by Mel's old boyfriend, Jeff, now an ex-con.
A dying Jack Ames feels betrayed that Harry has had a fling with his wife. Harry, meanwhile, is forced to face the reality that his friends have been deceitful and manipulative of him.
Raymond Hope tries to persuade Harry to get away from it all, but Harry has figured it out that Hope has been on-the-take and a conspirator in the 20-year-old murder of Catherine's first husband. A showdown ensues in Raymond's glass-walled hillside home.
Cast
- Paul NewmanPaul NewmanPaul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, professional racing driver and auto racing enthusiast...
as Harry Ross - Susan SarandonSusan SarandonSusan Sarandon is an American actress. She has worked in films and television since 1969, and won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the 1995 film Dead Man Walking. She had also been nominated for the award for four films before that and has received other recognition for her...
as Catherine Ames - Gene HackmanGene HackmanEugene Allen "Gene" Hackman is an American actor and novelist.Nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two, Hackman has also won three Golden Globes and two BAFTAs in a career that spanned five decades. He first came to fame in 1967 with his performance as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde...
as Jack Ames - Reese WitherspoonReese WitherspoonLaura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon , better known as Reese Witherspoon, is an American actress and film producer. Witherspoon landed her first feature role as the female lead in the film The Man in the Moon in 1991; later that year she made her television acting debut, in the cable movie Wildflower...
as Mel Ames - Stockard ChanningStockard ChanningStockard Channing is an American stage, film and television actress. She is known for her portrayal of First Lady Abbey Bartlet in the NBC television series The West Wing; for playing Betty Rizzo in the film Grease; and for her role as Ouisa Kittredge in the play Six Degrees of Separation and its...
as Lt. Verna Hollander - James GarnerJames GarnerJames Garner is an American film and television actor, one of the first Hollywood actors to excel in both media. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades...
as Raymond Hope - Giancarlo EspositoGiancarlo EspositoGiancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito is a Danish-born American film and television actor and director.-Early life:Esposito was born in Copenhagen, Denmark to an Italian father and African-American mother. His mother was an opera and nightclub singer from Alabama, who once appeared on the same...
as Reuben Escobar - Liev SchreiberLiev SchreiberIsaac Liev Schreiber , commonly known as Liev Schreiber, is an American actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. He became known during the late 1990s and early 2000s, having initially appeared in several independent films, and later mainstream Hollywood films, including the Scream trilogy of...
as Jeff Willis - Margo MartindaleMargo MartindaleMargo Martindale is an American stage, television and film actress. In 2011, Martindale won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her performance as Mags Bennett on Justified.-Early life:...
as Gloria Lamar ("Mucho") - John SpencerJohn Spencer (actor)John Spencer was an American film and television actor. He was most widely known for playing White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry on the NBC political drama series The West Wing, which earned him an Emmy Award in 2002.-Early life:Spencer was born as John Speshock, Jr. in New York City, and...
as Capt. Phil Egan - M. Emmet WalshM. Emmet WalshMichael Emmet Walsh is an American actor who has appeared in over 100 film and television productions.-Life and career:Walsh was born in Ogdensburg, New York, the son of Agnes Kathrine and Harry Maurice Walsh, Sr., a customs agent...
as Lester Ivar - Clint HowardClint HowardClinton "Clint" Howard is an American film and television actor. He is a character actor with numerous brief appearances on television and films. He has played many bit parts in movies directed by his brother, actor-turned-director Ron Howard. He is also the uncle of actress Bryce Dallas Howard...
as EMS Worker
Production Notes
The working title for Twilight was "The Magic Hour". Parts of the movie were filmed at the Los Angeles Police Department's Hollywood Division Station house. Many of the police officers seen in the background are not extras, but actual police officers.Reception
While the film featured many notable A-listA-list
A-list is a term that alludes to major movie stars, or the most bankable in the Hollywood film industry.The A-list is part of a larger guide called The Hot List that has become an industry-standard guide in Hollywood...
actors,Twilight's budget of $37,000,000 and gross revenue of $15,055,091 indicates that it was a box office bomb
Box office bomb
The phrase box office bomb refers to a film for which the production and marketing costs greatly exceeded the revenue regained by the movie studio. This should not be confused with Hollywood accounting when official figures show large losses, yet the movie is a financial success.A film's financial...
.
Entertainment Weekly critic Owen Gleiberman gave the film a C+ grade. He wrote it was meant to be "...about the relationship between a semiretired gumshoe (Paul Newman) and two veteran movie stars (Gene Hackman and Susan Sarandon)..." but was actually "...about the trio of aging stars who play them."
Barbara Shulgasser of the San Francisco Examiner called it a "dazzlingly smart script by Benton and co-writer Richard Russo." She went on to write: "Twilight is as close to a perfect film as I've seen in a long while."
Heather Clisby of Movie Magazine International described it as "one of those films where everybody involved seems to have actually cared, thus we have a superb product with memorable characters brought to life by some of the finest actors of our time."