Film Review of Flawless
Year: 1999 Reviewer: Chris Docker
Robert de Niro plays a heroic security guard (Walt) who is partially paralysed by a stroke. For all his greatness of character, Walt is extremely homophobic. The story develops around the consequences of Walt and his drag queen neighbour being brought together in a way that they end up helping and eventually respecting each other. In a side plot, a dance-hall girl who is fond of Walt is rejected because, in his rather blind cynicism, he believes her to be a hooker only interested in him to get money. The film is played seriously and often touchingly, handling the issues constructively and with dignity. It flags occasionally and as the end credits roll (using the now all too familiar technique of showing unused footage as a backdrop) we realise there could have been some brilliantly memorable scenes to enliven what is nevertheless a fairly serious story.
Rating: 5/10
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