Year of Eastwood #31

Midnight in the Garden
of Good and Evil (1997)

Starring: Kevin Spacey, John Cusack
Directed by Eastwood

Midnight jumps right into the action as we are introduced to the high society of the deep south. Lavish parties, drunken gentlemen, shrimp etouffee, and painted up hussies - this joints going to be rockin' well past midnight ... or at least until somebody throws up in the driveway.

Cusack is a failed novelist visiting Savannah, Georgia to write a magazine piece about the high falootin’ party scene attended by upper crust of the old crusties. The leader of these shaky-doo’s is Spacey, a fancy lad who has a strange relationship with a trashy hustler played by Jude Law. Law has made his rounds pleasing all the guys and gals of the South and he and Spacey argue quite a bit and Law ruffles up his doilies in a huff. Like so many of his movies - Jude ends up dead and Spacey has to stand trial for his murder.

Meanwhile, Cusack runs around Dixie enjoying the nightlife … kicking back at piano bars drinking Mint Juleps and carousing around graveyards with an old high priestess who likes to throw around chicken’s feet and profusing wisdoms like “yes um, the spirits is angries.” There’s never a bad time for a love interest and this one feels really tacked on as Clint’s daughter Allison shows up for a few scenes just to flaunt around town with Cusack … uhh, I’m having a Sondra flashback.

Just for fun, there’s a transsexual, Lady Chablis - who wisecracks with Cusack, vamps it up at a Cotillion and then because it’s narratively convenient … has to provide wisecracking testimony at the murder trial. But it’s not really clear what she’s adding to the trial and her scene doesn’t really break the case wide open. So the trial continues on and Spacey lies about the events of that fateful night - Cusack finds out the truth and is surprisingly horrified by all the going ons - until the jury, lead by Clint-staple Geofferey Lewis who likes to keep horseflies on leashes, reaches their verdict.

Oh wait, then Spacey has a heart attack and Cusack and Allison go to the park to enjoy a picnic of Lady Chablis’ special chicken. Feels like Clint had quite a bit of material to squeeze into 2 ½ hours and he wanted to remain true to the material. The novel was a best seller and I’m sure the whole Lady Chablis angle made for some interest reading but by the late 90’s the nation had been Crying Gamed out and the reaction to this film was a big collective yawn.

Midnight is actually quite a misstep in Clint’s career. I’m not actually sure what drew Clint toward this story, but it doesn’t really feed into his strengths as a director and story-teller. Clint is a born and raised California golden boy - Midnight takes place in the deep South, rich in tradition … and apparently voodoo and transsexuals. None of this really equals a connection with the material. His straight-forward approach which has worked so effectively in other projects just kind of falls flat with this courtroom drama.

Oh yea, Clint doesn’t even appear in Midnight, unless he’s a gargoyle or something.