FLAWLESS
Joel Schumacher (1999)
Written and directed by Joel
Schumacher, Flawless explores the uneasy relationship
between Walt Koontz (Robert De Niro), a conservative,
retired security guard, and his neighbor Rusty Zimmerman
(Philip Seymour Hoffman), a drag queen and singer. Both live
and avoid each other in a run-down building in the Lower
East Side of New York City.
Walt is reminded of his respectable
occupation and of the days of heroic commitment to the job
by a display of photographs and awards of recognition in his
living room. Around his solitude he has built a comfortable
routine of nightly visits to a dance hall and a practical
affair with his favorite dancing partner. Walt's routine is
unexpectedly shattered, however, when late one night he
suffers a stroke. Angered and humiliated by his resulting
condition, he retreats from the outside world and initiates
an exploration of the immediate people around him; people
which he habitually repudiates yet which he must learn to
rely on.
Having successfully set up the
differences between its characters, these are confronted
with situations in which they start needing each other. The
result is an exploration of the tolerance of one character
for the other, and their hard-earned realization that
friendship may well stand outside of age, gender, and
personal inclination. Notably, the superb performances by
both De Niro and Hoffman make Flawless a film which
finds both drama and humor in its portrayal of these
important issues.
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