Our Flick of the Week is “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” director Clint Eastwood’s beautifully realized treatment of the best-selling book about high crimes and misdemeanors in Savannah, Ga., society. Following the success of his film of “The Bridges of Madison County,” Eastwood — who doesn’t appear in this picture — marks himself as a director with a sure literary touch, relaxed and generous in his storytelling, which is surprising for someone who comes out the western action tradition.
And here’s another compliment I’m surprised to deliver, because offhand I can’t think of another film that deserves it. What I like about “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” is that if you eliminated the centerpiece of the story — a real-life murder trial involving a wealthy wheeler-dealer accused of killing his male lover — the picture still works. It’s as simple as this: At the end of the film is a shot of a group of the film’s characters, and I thought to myself as I saw them all that it had been a pleasure to spend time with each and every one.
Also noteworthy is the lead performance by Kevin Spacey as a slick, monied effete who lives in a lavish home that covers a city block and is as kinky as he is charming. Spacey couldn’t be hotter right now with his Oscar for “The Usual Suspects” and his similarly compelling performances in “Seven” and the currently-in-release “L.A. Confidential.” His success is fascinating, because he doesn’t have distinctive good looks; rather, his attitude of intense cynicism is his ticket to stardom. And I haven’t found him repeating himself in his cynical roles. John Cusack co-stars as a writer assigned to do a magazine sketch on the high-society Christmas party hosted by Spacey’s character each year. Before long, he’s calling his literary agent in New York and begging to write a book about the crime story. And what he tells his agent is precisely what we are experiencing in this ensemble character study. “This place is fantastic,” says Cusack’s character. “It’s like `Gone With the Wind’ on mescaline . . . they walk imaginary pets . . . and they’re all heavily armed and drunk. New York is boring.” But “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” isn’t. I’m sure there will be debates about all the ultimate meaning to the story. I think the film argues that there is a greater spiritual force in this world than you might suspect. Rated R. (star) (star) (star) 1/2
– ANASTASIA. A pretty animated feature that works because its lead character is charming, even though she gets faint support from the rest of the cast. With dialogue spoken by Meg Ryan and her musical voice performed by Liz Callaway, the story of the lost Russian princess works for the most simple of reasons: She’s pretty and charming and we want her to be happy and recover her birthright. On the other hand, the script couldn’t do a worse job of informing youngsters about what life was like for the working and peasant classes during the reign of the Czar. It gives us only some inane talk about what a great time it was for parties in St. Petersburg during the first decade of the 20th Century. G. (star) (star) (star)
– JOHN GRISHAM’S THE RAINMAKER. Francis Ford Coppola doesn’t stretch himself with this adaptation of Grisham’s novel about the education of a young lawyer. The story about a new attorney taking on an evil insurance company unfolds much as you might expect. But Coppola has cast his film so well, from Matt Damon as the young barrister to Jon Voight as the head of the insurance company’s defense team, that the story never bores us. The true standout in the cast, however, is a street savvy lawyer’s aide played by Danny DeVito. I would have liked this film even more if he had been the central character. PG-13. (star) (star) (star)
– = New this week