After seeing "Capote" I found another film in which Phillip Seymore Hoffman played a significant part, and was immediately struck by how different the character was that he played in" Flawless", as opposed to his portrayal of Capote. I am not talking about artifice and make-up and camera angles here, although that did help to make him appear different,however, Hoffman did the work! Voice, mannerisms, diction, deportment...all....all radically studied and honed to perfection rarely seen in movies now,by what I would be tempted to declare the product of a consummate actor of the first water! I do think that I am in an unconventional position to make this distinction, considering that I viewed these movies within just hours of each other,and though I seemed to recognize Hoffman, it took me a while to know where I had seen him before...and as much as he had impressed me in the previous film, that is a trick and a half! It is a rare instance indeed that finds me unable to pinpoint an actor or actress of whom I am both fond and familiar,the name of the movie I saw them in last and the part they played, and yet, Hoffman has the ability to more than briefly stump me on both, at least in this instance.
Moving right along, Hoffman played opposite Robert De Nero as antagonistic neighbors in a rather seedy apartment building, who were as opposite as one can imagine, in this vehicle which shows a rather ragged underworld most of us know is there, and yet don't stop to consider that people in those types of places, are just people doing the best they can with very difficult circumstances. The writers got down into the gutter with a great deal of detail, bringing in gang violence, theft suggestive of drugs, in the very first scene, and I was tempted to shut if off, but then, I wanted to see if the guy got away,and he was smuggled into that very building where our two main characters lived, and soon after the gang was kicking down doors and guns were going off,and folks were running, and DeNero grabbed his gun to go help the innocent,and I was caught again,and had to see if he saved the girl...He didn't. He tried, but instead, he had a stroke, right on the stairs, in the middle of the gunplay! And, wouldn't you just know it, the only one who comes to his aid when he goes home paralyzed on one side, is his neighbor with whom he has been trading shouted insults all along! Tension subsides when they come together to rehabilitate him, but old habits are hard to break, and there is as much antagonism going on as there is therapy! Meanwhile, the gang hasn't forgotten that they still haven't found the wads of money stolen from them, and one by one, they break into every apartment in the building, terrorizing everyone, waving guns around and threatening all and sundry. At times I had trouble following the plot, but only because of the language,because the main characters hold up as very real people with both bad and good qualities, and even manage to develop a bond. In the end, there are several minutes of intense action and I was riveted to my seat! It has a very satisfactory ending!
WARNING! This is not for anyone other than mature people who are willing to suspend personal prejudice towards alternate lifestyles, and able to accept special folks as sympathetic characters,and even friends you can love.
After all, God loves them, just as much as he Loves me...or you!
OUI?
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