 | |
List Price: $14.98 | | Label: MGM (Video & DVD)
Salesrank: 13783
Released: April 25, 2000 |
| Our Price: $3.68 |
| Used Price: $2.40 |
|
MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
|
Editorial Review:
"One of the year's hottest surprises" (Rex Reed), this "feel-good drama" (San Francisco Chronicle) from writer-director Joel Schumacher (A Time to Kill) combines the acting talents of two-time Oscar(r) winner* Robert De Niro (Analyze This) and Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Talented Mr. Ripley)! Flawless lives up to its name with a story line that's full of compassion, tolerance and most of all "heart" (San Francisco Chronicle)! Walter Koontz (De Niro)once a hero cop, now a security guardlives in a rundown Hell's Kitchen tenement. One fateful night, after hearing the cries of a neighbor in trouble, his attempt to help turns into a nightmare when he suffers a stroke. Paralyzed on his right side and unable to speak clearly, Koontz, on the advice of his doctor, seeks voice lessons. But with winter holding him hostage to his apartment, he has no choice but to seek help from a musically inclined neighbor whom he vehemently dislikes an outspoken guy named Rusty (Hoffman)!
Description of Flawless:
Who could possibly be the target audience for Flawless? Walter (Robert De Niro) is a homophobic policeman who suffers a stroke while responding to gunshots in his own apartment building; for speech therapy, he starts taking singing lessons from his neighbor Rusty (Philip Seymour Hoffman of Magnolia, Boogie Nights, and Happiness), a gay drag queen who's saving up money for a sex-change operation. However, there's another story line that takes up at least as much time as that one, about a drug dealer and his goons trying to find money that was stolen from them, brutally beating up everyone in their path. Furthermore, the local gay community (in New York City) seems to consist entirely of drag queens and Log Cabin Republicans, and one of Walter's cop buddies goggles at drag queens as if he's just arrived from the middle of Iowa. All the characters--including various prostitutes, drug dealers, a hotel clerk who's a weaselly mama's boy, as well as the aforementioned drag queens and cops--are horrific stereotypes. De Niro and Hoffman, both extremely talented actors, do all they can to overcome their cliché-studded dialogue, but they never seem to be in the same movie. Written and directed by Joel Schumacher, whose eclectic career includes Batman & Robin, A Time to Kill, Flatliners, and St. Elmo's Fire. --Bret Fetzer
Flawless Reviews:
A subtle favorite 
2009-10-21 - I first saw this on cable about 8 years ago.
I love the "feel" of this movie.
Both Robert De Niro and Phillip Seymour Hoffman give wonderful performances. The entire supporting cast are excellent as well.
I love the scene between the "drag queens" and the gay republicans.
"Delightful"
2009-07-10 - Oscar winners Robert DeNiro and Phillip Seymour Hoffman star in this cute gay comedy from the late '90's. DeNiro plays a New York City cop who suffers a stroke. He then receives singing lessons from his upstairs drag queen neighbor to help him with his speech. The bulk of the story deals with thugs looking for money that someone in the cop's and drag queen's building stole.
"Flawless" is a cute comedy/drama and what makes the film so memorable are the amazing performances by its leads. However, Phillip Seymour Hoffman steals the picture from DeNiro with his intense and convincing portrayal of a drag queen. Everything from Hoffman's facial expressions to his voice to his mannerisms makes the viewer think they are really watching a real-life drag performer on the screen. Hoffman's portrayal is one of the best I have ever witnessed.
The movie has been pretty much forgotten by its gay audience that it was targeted for. This is obvious as the film is now out-of-print and Amazon has none in stock. I suggest in purchasing a copy of "Flawless" from a buyer through Amazon; they have cheap copies and the movie is really cute and enjoyable.
The DVD comes with a collectible booklet and the original theatrical trailer. There are also French and Spanish subtitles.
Program Admin
2009-06-22 - I tried to rent this movie went to two places, I was unable to find it. I highly recommend this movie it is very entertaining. I love the fact Amazon.com made it so convenient for me to find it at a very affordable price. Received it in a timely manner.
This Taxi Driver 2
2009-03-07 - In Taxi Driver, Robert De Niro hates the city, becomes very radical against all norms of untraditional behaviour, and ends up in a gunbattle with wimps and prostitution to rescue Jodie Foster.
In this movie, all the same threads are still there. One can imagine that they young Taxi Driver has become a cop (because he liked guns and he is straightforward and a vigilante in Txi Driver). It also sounds as if he is still living in the same apartment (see Taxi Driver), and the second half the movie is very similar to Taxi Driver. Here is De Niro the gallant hero up to rescue another Jodie Foster but this time it is Rusty the Drag Queen. Now the question is why would de Niro would do a movie that resembles more or less a "whatever happened the young taxi driver?". It seems to me the movie Flawless is telling us that he ended up a cop and won many medals, and he still braving the odds and attacking bad people. except that he has a change of mind about the "scum of society". He seems to be more accepting of homosexuals in Flawless and this is a character development that the director of the film wanted us to see compared to Taxi Driver. Also, in one seen Rusty mentions to Robert De Niro that he is "no Jodie Foster".
For these reasons, I believe that Flawless is Taxi Driver 2. Do you agree?
Loved it
2009-02-07 - I loved this movie from the first time I saw it. It is typical Robert DeNiro but in this movie he is a bit more vulnerable than usual. Phillip Seymour Hoffman stole this movie, however. I loved him. He is so wide ranged, and this movie was still early in his stardom. I disagree with many of the reviewers. Maybe it made them uncomfortable. I think this is a poignant, sad,funny, talented movie with a bit of action thrown in for all the cop movie lovers.
