Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

I got the chance to view this recently on video and to me it left me in total awe. This is Clint Eastwood's best movie to date in a line of good movies that include his directorial debut from "Play Misty For Me" to his brandish westerns like "The Outlaw Josey Wales" to his Oscar winning "Unforgiven",to even his soft hearted material ranging from his military drama "Heartbreak Ridge" to the emotional "The Bridges of Madison County". But here "Midnight In The Garden Of Good and Evil" is astounding entertainment and it features actor Kevin Spacey in one of his most gifted role of his career. The movie focuses on the happenings of Savannah,Georgia where the city of hot nights and cold-blooded murder all rolled into one. Its a rarely do movies of this magnitude show so much of true southern city they are depicting and basically get it right. It also shows in the first half of the movie the that way these houses and the designs which are depicted is incredible(yes,Mr. Eastwood has a eye for good art)and they way details are properly set,especially with the Christmas party dinner scene is perfect as well as the overall architecture of some of the most lavish houses ever bulit(if you ever go down to Savannah you must see this to believe it and its worth the trip) as well as the proper way to show courtesy of upright manners in front of your guests where hospitality is always first rate. But as far as the movie is concern(which is based on John Berendt's novel of the same title)what you see is depicted throughout the movie and the overall beauty of the city of Savannah. The people are so loving and caring that it makes you not only leave,but stay here more to see what happens next. I got the chance to read the book on this,but I take the book over the movie as a tossup,but you will not be disappointed. A grand style of entertainment at its finest hour. Thank you so much Kevin Spacey and director Clint Eastwood.

Definitely in that order. It increases comprehension. In fact, from reading some of the other reviews here, it may be the only way to enjoy this movie.

A great read; a better-than-I-expected screen adaptation. I had to see it, because I couldn't imagine how such a character-driven work would be handled on film. I will tell you that I was predisposed to think that it would not be handled well, but I was pleasantly surprised.

All in all, this movie manages to do a good job of condensing the book into a non-butt-busting film length, while remaining generally faithful to it. The length and the slowness of the movie are really the only ways to convey the meanderings of the book. It's part of the way this movie creates the slow Southern atmosphere that is such an integral part of the story. Savannah is a character in the book, and the only unifying force other than the author. It's easier to convey that in words than pictures, but Eastwood has done a good job of getting the point across here.

The casting is mostly great, particularly the supporting characters. Irma P. Hall's portrayal of Minerva is somehow soothing and slightly menacing, just as the woman seems in the book. I didn't know how the casting of the actual Chablis would affect the film, but she really delivers the goods without seeming like stunt casting.

I was irritated by what I felt were John's and Chablis' too-active roles in the court case, but I suppose I can understand the reasoning behind it. I don't have to like it, but I understand it. Just as irritating, and entirely disposable, was the romantic subplot. These two elements seemed out of the role of observer that Berendt makes for himself the book. Also, the Mandy character is sapped by taking a big, beautiful, interesting woman and making her a generic cute chick. Alison Eastwood does what she can with this bland creation, but I have a feeling that the movie character never would have been featured the book.

No, it's not the book, but no movie ever could be. A slavish adaptation would have been a truly boring film, not to mention way longer than this effort. (Can you say, "Just rent the AudioBook?") And no, it's not a twisting, turning thrill-ride, because the book isn't exactly jam-packed with plot. It is, however, a decent movie if viewed on its own terms and for its own merits. And after you've read the book.

John Cusack plays John Kelso, a New York writer who goes down to Savannah, Georgia to interview Jim Williams (Kevin Spacey), a wealthy socialite and art connoisseur who likes to give expensive parties. While in Savannah, Kelso gets involved in murder, voodoo, and some eccentric characters. Kelso is a plot-convenient stand-in for John Berendt, the author of the nonfiction book upon which the film's screenplay was based.

With the film's intriguing title, maybe I was expecting too much. I really don't know what director Eastwood was trying to tell us here. The film was cluttered with disjointed subplots, which included: a murder and subsequent trial, a romance, a character study of Williams, a parade of strange characters largely irrelevant to other subplots, a travelogue of a Southern city, and some voodoo thrown in.

The acting ranged from good (Kevin Spacey) to mediocre to fairly poor. The cinematography and the production design were adequate.

This film has entertainment value for Kevin Spacey fans. But the story itself lacked focus, and it led nowhere. Indeed, the ending was ambiguous, in an irritating sort of way.

The main problem with "Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil" was its questionable rationale. Why was it made? Just because a film is based on a true event does not ensure a favorable cinematic outcome, especially if the film's screenplay digresses significantly from its source. Better direction would have helped a lot, as would a complete rewrite of the screenplay, based on a more cohesive premise.

I think Eastwood did a good directing job, but should have left about 25% on the cutting room floor. It's a good story, with Cusack being the eyewitness to Spacey's millionaire eccentricities. Spacey is one of the most threatening figures in all of acting. Cusack's character is merely a vehicle for the story. Part of the problem for me is the supernatural stuff. The story could have stood on its own without all that voodoo stuff. Also, the character of Chablis, while entertaining at times, gets really tiresome. His/Her appearance in the courtroom is a big disappointment. This person is there for comic relief but really doesn't advance the plot, other than to show us how open minded Cusack's character is. Shorten this film by a half hour and she the superfluities, and it becomes taut and gripping. I did enjoy the defense attorney with his "aw shucks" mentality (Who's Hobbes?), but without our favorite villain, it was not great. Also, the conclusion was too much. Stop it right there.

If, like me, you live in a cave, you may not know that this film is adapted from a bestselling non-fiction book and based on a true story. Each character is based on a real life person, and some of these people even play themselves in the film. It's very hard to believe because every single person in this movie is clinically insane.

This movie surprised & impressed the heck out of me. I thought it would be a straightforward thriller, but it's more like a dark comedy with a deep social message. Sort of like "Heathers" meets "To Kill a Mockingbird".

In the tradition of "The Unforgiven", director Clint Eastwood again takes us to a place where what you see ain't always what you get. There are 2 sides to every story, and it's just a momentary line that separates the two (as the title says "Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil").

The plot is almost insignificant in light of this. If you watch this film, focus on the dichotomy of outward appearances vs. what's beneath. At times it's about abstract concepts like loyalty which seems solid on the surface, but when tested it flops like a bad soufflé. At other times the theme is quite literal, as with a flamboyantly feminine woman who's hiding "a man's toolbox" under her dress, if ya know what I mean. Everyone in this kooky town has some secret deviation, even though they all coexist in an atmosphere of fine southern charm.

Watch John Cusack's expressions closely, and I guarantee you'll get a few big LOLs. He plays the role of a New York writer who finds himself in the middle of this bizarre world, struggling to get a grasp of what's real. He spends most of the first half with his mouth wide open in disbelief.

The second half is when the plot kicks in, taking us on a murder mystery and its subsequent courtroom drama. Here the film changes to a more serious tone, but the themes remain the same. Don't expect any car chases, shootouts or flashy pyrotechnics. Don't even expect much of a Sherlock Holmesian revelation to the mystery. But if you go into it not knowing what to expect, I think you'll have a great time.