# Flawless (1999)

### reviewed by
Frankie Paiva

    Flawless (R) ***
    Starring Robert De Niro, Philip Seymour Hoffman
    Directed by Joel Schumacher
    Year Released: 1999
    A Review by Frankie Paiva

There is one man in Hollywood that I have always feared. Joel Schumacher, director of such films as Batman Forever, A Time To Kill, Batman and Robin, and 8MM. I have yet to see a recent (like in the past twenty years) good movie coming from the man. That's why I was extremely surprised when I viewed Flawless, the adult Thanksgiving alternative to Toy Story 2. After watching the film, I noticed the director of the picture, Joel Schumacher. If you see this and any of the four movies I've mentioned above, you can easily see why I was surprised that this film contained a marginal amount of quality. I'll spare you from saying that Flawless is anything but (as so many other critics have) but I will say that the film's performances lift it up much higher than expected.

Walt Koontz (De Niro) is an ex-cop who lives in the bad side (Is there a good one?) of Brooklyn. One night in his apartment building, he hears a shot from another room and immediately goes up to investigate. Walt gets caught up in a fight, gets shot and has a stroke. He stutters a lot and is barely able to speak. He finds his past life that was already slipping away falling away from him even more as he realizes that he's getting older and isn't what he used to be.

But there may be help. Rusty (Hoffman) is a transvestite who lives one floor up. Before the accident, homophobic Walt would usually engage in a battle of insults with his neighbor, but now he/she may be the source of his recovery. Rusty offers to give him singing lessons so that his embarrassing stutter might go away. The two begin to form an unlikely bond as another plot emerges. Apparently there has been some stolen drug money (at least Joel is keeping parts of his roots) and a big crime boss thinks that someone in the apartment next to Rusty has it. This part of the plot certainly isn't very interesting, and is kind of a cheap way to add to the running time.

De Niro was obviously picked for his ability to play characters with disabilities with amazing ease. Walt is much like his character who awoke from a coma in Awakenings. Hoffman, known for playing a variety of characters, (his film credits include Magnolia, Happiness, and Boogie Nights) is great. He fully embodies his drag queen character without putting in too many of the traditional clichés. Besides these two factors though, the film doesn't have much going for it. Much of the film is shot without attention to visual detail and the plot has a tendency to be gritty and depressing. The drug money subplot is what really destroys the film, making for a wild ending that doesn't belong with the rest of the film. Perhaps if they would have used the footage during the credits (stay for them, it's pretty funny) for the ending everyone would have gone out of the theater smiling. The performances in Flawless are great, but the script (written by, who else? Joel Schumacher) and the plot aren't. Acting is enough to lift Flawless up, and it gets my *** stars.

The Young-Uns: Besides one character being a drag queen, we see several scenes featuring him and his other homosexual friends, for those concerned about such things. There is also some not very graphic violence and lots of f-words. Good Age: 15 & Up

A Review by Frankie Paiva The 12 Year-Old Movie Reviewer E-Mail me at SwpStke@aol.com Visit my website at http://www.homestead.com/teenagemoviecritic/mainpage.html

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