Flawless

I haven't had so much fun watching flamboyant flaming queens since The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, a 1994 Australian film. In some ways, I consider Flawless an American art piece. That may be going too far, but it is a montage of plots and characters played out for the most part in a run down New Jersey tenement building. It has cops, robbers, queens, Republicans, old folks, street girls and a chase. The film is written and directed by Joel Schumacher whose previous directing experience includes two Grisham films, The Client and A Time to Kill as well as Batman and Robin. In Flawless, Robert DeNiro plays the lead role as Walt Koontz a retired cop. But wait! Who has the real lead role? Who steals the show, rises to the top and gets all the attention? It's Philip Seymour Hoffman as Rusty, the only person on the face of the planet who could possibly befriend the depressed, grouchy, malcontent, curmudgeon stroke victim played by DeNiro. DeNiro is the king of callous, but Hoffman goes toe-to-toe in their dialog. He tells the Walt character, ``I left sensitivity back in the sand pile.'' And the old folks aren't left out. Released from the hospital, Walt walks to his shabby lobby and meets an LOL in a wheelchair. She asks, ``Why you walkin' funny?''

``Stroke,'' he mumbles.

She says, ``You think that's bad. I didn't sleep a wink last night.''

Both DeNiro and Hoffman carry the primary story line of the film and they do a great job. Although, in my opinion DeNiro's character was a shoe-in for him while Hoffman had to act. After this film, Hoffman did Lester Bangs in Almost Famous and Joe White, the writer in State and Main. Regardless, you absolutely believe both characters.

Walt connects with two women; Karen played by Wanda De Jesus. You may have seen her as Graciella, the sister who was still alive in Blood Work. And Tia played by Daphne Rubin-Vega who looks 15 years younger than her 34 years.

There are nasty guys and bad stuff in the film. It's rated ``R'' for a reason. However I found the three-society triad, redneck law, wild-ass queens and criminals a fascinating combination.