Flawless (1999)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

I was begged to watch this movie by a friend that said it is really good. It started out like a play adapted to the screen with a few bumps here and there. It picks up with a plot but it is full disjunctive and broken attempts at making sense. P S Hoffman really tries, but he cannot get this role off the ground. Bobby Milk does what he does, act great. But he has a very limited chances to pull off the role other than to follow a grievously poorly written script that pales in comparison to the direction of use on the back of a stool softener box. When Bobby get the stroke he it gets better, that way he does not have to read the bad lines nearly as much. In fact if everyone would have had a stroke I could have given this stinker 3 stars. The best part is the end, it is over.

I found the problem with Flawless the same I find in most Hollywood's films: too much rules in the story. To make the film entertainable, Hollywood producers do not open hand of rules, this case being the subplot where gangsters try to recuperate money stolen from their drug dealing (among others). The film itself is an actor's film. I won't share the plot once more, but it deals with the approximation of two worlds: that of the retired cop (Robert the Niro) with impaired speaking to a drag queen (Phillip Seymor Hoffman) that know the basics of singing, who will help him with his voice. Around the two the film stands, and that's the sole meaning of its existence. The growth of both characters it's what most justify the film, that becomes a pleasurable within being in the hands of this two sacred monsters of cinema.

Lots of people stating how emotional and enjoyable this film is, so I had to see it myself. Unfortunately, I can't agree with that. Robert De Niro is the grumpy from the white snow story; he's always mad, bad humored and ready to fight. Philip Seymour Hoffman plays a stressed drag queen who is always calling bad names to offend other people-- everybody in this movie seems to have no problem in offending others. The money debts situations I found to be unnecessary through the whole time, but in the end it had a reason-- which isn't that good anyways. Throughout the entire movie nothing much really happens; it's only simple talking, scolding and discussions. There isn't a character that you feel like you can identify with, since they're all very nuts. In the end, I feel "Flawless" is a waste of time; the movie goes on and on and when it gets to the climax, the outcome is minimal. Pass it.

You know how comedies are supposed to make you laugh? Well, "Flawless" makes you laugh, but you're not laughing at what happens in the movie; you're laughing at the fact that the movie didn't come out very good. Certainly the idea of a homophobic cop having to make amends with a drag queen seems like it could make an interesting movie, but they didn't do it here. The whole thing just drags. The movie doesn't even really have any clever lines. Robert DeNiro should have known better than to star in this, and I think that we can all agree that Philip Seymour Hoffman did a much better job playing a gay person in "Capote".All in all, pathetic.