Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Lanning :

  
  11/21/11 update: <p> Just saw this again after about two or three years. Clint Eastwood is a multi-tasking god. <p>I have a friend who has a couple of high-school aged daughters. It's not that the daughters are slackers; the oldest one is the valedictorian of her… More
  11/21/11 update: <p> Just saw this again after about two or three years. Clint Eastwood is a multi-tasking god. <p>I have a friend who has a couple of high-school aged daughters. It's not that the daughters are slackers; the oldest one is the valedictorian of her class. What bothers my friend is that the kids are always boasting about how good they are at multi-tasking -- it's reportedly one of the greatest talents of their generation. My friend constantly rolls her eyeballs when these boasts are set forward, because she would like for them to understand that multi-tasking means more than doing lots of things at once. She wants them to know that it means doing lots of things at once well -- completely. Not doing a bunch of things in a half-baked manner. This generation does do lots of things simultaneously, but they tend to do them not in the way of renaissance "men," but in the way of, say, renai "men." Half-way. Along the lines of a jack-of-all-trades and master of none.<p> This is definitely not Clint Eastwood's problem. You can throw him two-dozen balls, and he'll keep them all in the air. Piece of cake. <I>Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil</i> is an example of Eastwood at the height of his multiple powers. <p> And hey, here are words to live by from Lady Chablis: <p> Like my mama always used to say, "Two peas in a bucket, mother-f--k-it." What a find she was : ) <p> * * * * *<p>Original comments, way back when: <p> It begins with a soundtrack: All Johnny Mercer, all the time. We know Eastwood has an ear for music. BIRD is a good example of his tastes. This soundtrack is phenomenal. k.d. lang's "Skylark" haunts me; I hear it in my head from out of nowhere when I least expect it. To say the reaction to this movie was "mixed" is generous. If it was truly mixed, I think there would have been a few more critics making a few more positive comments. Clintwood was called self-indulgent for meandering around with the direction of this movie. You can call it meandering; I'll call it . . . jazz. Cusack delivers a tour de force performance. Spacey is equally good. That death scene with Jude Law, facing each other on the floor, and that smile Law gives Spacey--it gives me goosebumps just typing about it. The acting of Eastwood's daughter. Okay, so this isn't big on FX, lacks thrilling stunts and car chases, and maybe moves very slowly, very methodically, very thoughtfully, at times. But this true story is compellingly condensed, not butchered--just think, if Eastwood had stuck even more closely to this excellent book, the movie could have gone on for three or four more hours. Chop-jobs of books is what I fear we may see trending with the HARRY POTTER series--although that's way too harsh of me to say. All these wonderfully quirky Savannah characters so beautifully played--or discovered: The Lady Chablis! That fine detail, so artistically appropriate, of the one painting covered up by the second painting. Layer upon layer . . . Yes, flixsters, I think that's it: I'm calling this a masterful Clint Eastwood jazz performance.

• Melvin W

  
  Jim Williams: Sport, truth, like art, is in the eye of the beholder. You believe what you choose and I'll believe what I know.  "Welcome to Savannah, Georgia. A City Of Hot Nights And Cold Blooded Murder." Midnight in The Garden of Good and Evil is probably in the… More
  Jim Williams: Sport, truth, like art, is in the eye of the beholder. You believe what you choose and I'll believe what I know.  "Welcome to Savannah, Georgia. A City Of Hot Nights And Cold Blooded Murder." Midnight in The Garden of Good and Evil is probably in the bottom half of Eastwood's directorial efforts. But i still really like it. I'm probably overrating it, because it does have a lot of problems, but I just really liked it for it's unconventionality. It's a strange, almost surreal movie; full of weird relationships that make no sense, voodoo, murder and a bunch of southern accents. It's slow moving and I loved it for that. It pretty much hypnotized me. Nothing about it is all that exciting, but it's a joy too watch. Even with how much I like this film; I won't say it's a great film. It has a lot of problems. The story runs together and it kind of makes it feel like a mess; but a mesmerizing mess at that. If you don't like slow moving, not a lot of action, long movies, stay away because this is not for you. Also, at times the strangeness of some of the characters makes the movie come off as overly silly, which is weird to see from a Clint Eastwood directed film.  I can overlook all of its problems though because Eastwood still manages to make it captivating. The story is extremely interesting and seeing this movie makes me really want to read the book. The best part of this movie is the two leads, John Cusack and Kevin Spacey. I am a huge fan of both and it was a lot of fun watching them onscreen together. Also, Jude Law has a very minor supporting role, which he still amazing in. If you're thinking of watching this movie only because of the presence of Law, though, I wouldn't bother. He might have about 5 minutes of screen time in the whole film.  This is one of those movies that is very polarizing. It's going to split people on whether they can enjoy it or not. It reminds me a lot of Eastwood's Hereafter in that regards. Both are extremely slow and have no real feeling of a beginning, middle or end. But I still enjoyed them both. I know a lot of people who hated them both too. Eastwood has obviously done much better things than this and that's part of the reason I'm not rating it even higher. With all that talent that is involved in this film; it should have been even better. Even though I did like it; the expectations of how good it should be did make it slightly disappointing.

• Cassandra M

  
  A fine achievement, for three reasons. First, the extraordinary atmosphere which Eastwood succeeds in conjuring, especially at the opening and in the graveyard scenes - eerie threat in the midst of sunlit affluence. Second, Spacey's performance, top class as always, subtle and… More
  A fine achievement, for three reasons. First, the extraordinary atmosphere which Eastwood succeeds in conjuring, especially at the opening and in the graveyard scenes - eerie threat in the midst of sunlit affluence. Second, Spacey's performance, top class as always, subtle and stylish - has he ever disappointed (all right, Working Girl)? Third, the dazzling presence of Lady Chablis, playing him/herself. Next to these, the flaws - length, awkward narrative structure, Cusack's sleepwalking performance, pointless scenes which fizzle out - seem relatively unimportant.

• Conner R

  
  It was an interesting movie with a good cast, but it wasn't a particularly amazing bit of film-making. It's easily Clint Eastwood's most unimaginative and bland directing jobs. If it were not for the story, it would have been a worthless movie.

• Tony G

  
  Disappointingly terrible. Cusack continues to prove he's a one-note actor who's benefited from good material. "Midnight" has no charm, is bafflingly paced and never bothers to try to engage the viewer.

• First L

  
  John Kelso (John Cusack) comes from New York to write an article on the party for Town and Country magazine, but gets sucked into hanging around when Jim is put on trial for murder. Everythings odd and everyone's eccentric in Savannah: a man walks an invisible dog, an old voodoo… More
  John Kelso (John Cusack) comes from New York to write an article on the party for Town and Country magazine, but gets sucked into hanging around when Jim is put on trial for murder. Everythings odd and everyone's eccentric in Savannah: a man walks an invisible dog, an old voodoo woman skulks around, talking to squirrels, and then there's the drag queen. One night, John is awakened by a beautiful blonde woman who drags him off to an eccentric party. The next night he attends Jim's party and there's more eccentrics, including Jim's handyman (Jude Law) whom Jim winds up killing later in the evening, in what appears to be self-defense. John calls his publicist, telling him "this place is like 'Gone With The Wind' on mescaline" and "New York is boring!". Which brings us to Lady Chablis, a real life transvestite performer cast in this movie to play a transvestite performer. Of course she's great and dominates the film when she's onscreen, but in a movie that's nearly 3 hours, her scenes feel absolutely unnecessary and contribute nothing other than a plot contrivance later in the film. Likewise the blonde and her moustached companion. I kept expecting there to be some twist where it was revealed they were the actual murderers or conspirators, but it seems their appearance in this film was equally pointless. By the end of the movie, the trial starts to get just plain silly, and the voodoo ending came off like an old episode of "tales from the crypt". And Jude Law fails to pull off a convincing southern accent, just so you know. Overall, a sloppy movie that ends up kind of nonsensical.

• Steve K

  
  Inexcusably boring for such a talented bunch of people.

• jay n

  
  disappointing

• Jason S

  
  This flick had a mood about it that I liked. Plus John Cusack is good in everything he pops up in.

• Megan S

  
  A good movie, but the book was so much better. I love Savannah, GA!

• Michael G

  
  If you ever wanted to see a movie drawn and quartered, see this movie.

• Christopher O

  
  Clint Eastwood tries valiantly to bring this iconic novel to life but as hard as he tries it doesn't completely translates. The novel is an acquired taste about a murder mystery in a mansion in the historic and mystical town of Savannah, Georgia, where a writer played quite well… More
  Clint Eastwood tries valiantly to bring this iconic novel to life but as hard as he tries it doesn't completely translates. The novel is an acquired taste about a murder mystery in a mansion in the historic and mystical town of Savannah, Georgia, where a writer played quite well by Cusack tries to find the real story behind a murder and is swept up in the mystery. Kevin Spacey also is convincgly good as the gay art collector who is at the heart of the murder mystery involving a young hustler played by Jude Law. Eastwood loves jazz and uses music effectively throughout and his own daughter Alison is quite good as Cusack's love interest. The novel is hard to get through and unfortunately so is the film but the cinematography and scenery are breathtaking.

• Alec B

  
  As a big fan of the novel I was let down by the film (trying to make John Berendt a character involved with rather than an observer in all that takes place was a major miscalculation) but even disregarding that I've read the novel doesn't make for any major improvements, its… More
  As a big fan of the novel I was let down by the film (trying to make John Berendt a character involved with rather than an observer in all that takes place was a major miscalculation) but even disregarding that I've read the novel doesn't make for any major improvements, its still boring as hell. Kevin Spacey is great and casting Lady Chablis as herself works better than you'd think but they can't make it engaging.

• Mike T

  
  I really don't think this film is as horrible as a lot of people make it out to be, but it's definitely far from being perfect. It is pretty sloppy stuff, both in terms of Eastwood's direction and the endless screenplay. It never seems to find its focus, and its… More
  I really don't think this film is as horrible as a lot of people make it out to be, but it's definitely far from being perfect. It is pretty sloppy stuff, both in terms of Eastwood's direction and the endless screenplay. It never seems to find its focus, and its constant shifts in tone are confusing and eventually frustrating. It did, however, keep my attention for the most part and I was able to enjoy certain aspects despite all of its flaws. The always-brilliant Kevin Spacey turns in another performance that flaunts his ability, and John Cusack's acting is strong as well. A not-yet-famous Jude Law also makes a big impact in his limited screen time.

• Curt C

  
  This movie was incredibly ... uhm ... average. John Cusack is not his normal self here.

• Erin C

  
  Not bad. Cusack and Spacey had some funny lines throughout, but the movie was kinda slow-moving. My favorite character was Lady Chablis - hilarious!

• Marcus W

  
  John Cusack (yet again) plays a failed writer involved in a murder that nobody seems to care about, including the defendant, and therefore including me. We're introduced to lots of oddball characters, none of whom make any difference to the film. It chucks in some voodoo, plays… More
  John Cusack (yet again) plays a failed writer involved in a murder that nobody seems to care about, including the defendant, and therefore including me. We're introduced to lots of oddball characters, none of whom make any difference to the film. It chucks in some voodoo, plays the gay card, and then after 2+ hours decides to finish. The direction is good, everything else is below par.

• Angela A

  
  This film is so well cast. John Cusack, Jude Law and Kevin Spacey are just perfect. The film jumbles a lot of the book up and mixes characters a little. Some scenes (like the ladies card games) too up barely a minute in the film when they dominated most of a chapter in the book.… More
  This film is so well cast. John Cusack, Jude Law and Kevin Spacey are just perfect. The film jumbles a lot of the book up and mixes characters a little. Some scenes (like the ladies card games) too up barely a minute in the film when they dominated most of a chapter in the book. I'm sure it would have made no sense to people who hadn't read the book. However good the film is, this is a situation where the book is king. The movie only serves to remind you of the book.

• Miriam K

  
  A Real GOOD Movie

• Audrey L

  
  A glaring ommission from my favorites list!

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