Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

Director: Clint Eastwood Clint Eastwood

Overview

Clint Eastwood directed this adaptation of John Berendt's non-fiction best-seller about a Savannah, Georgia, murder case. When this film was released, Berendt's book had been on best-seller lists for four years. As the film begins, New York journalist John Kelso (John Cusack), alter ego of author Berendt, arrives in Savannah to do a brief Town and Country article on the annual Christmas party given by sophisticated, urbane antique dealer Jim Williams (Kevin Spacey), who restored many mansions in Savannah, including the famed Mercer House where he lives. After the party, Williams kills his rude, violent lover Billy Hanson (Jude Law), explaining it as a necessary act of self-defense. Kelso decides to stay in Savannah to cover the trial, encountering a variety of colorful locals, eccentric and otherwise, including black transvestite nightclub performer Lady Chablis (appearing as herself), financially challenged bon vivant Joe Odom (Paul Hipp), vocalist Mandy Nichols (Alison Eastwood), voodoo priestess Minerva (Irma P. Hall), and Williams's deceptively powerful defense attorney Sonny Seiler (Australian actor Jack Thompson with a very convincing Southern accent). Kelso develops a romantic interest in Mandy while tracking the events that led up to the killing.

Product Details

Release Date:	06/01/2010
UPC:	0883929107711
Original Release:	1997
Rating:	R
Source:	Warner Home Video
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	2:35:00
Sales rank:	211

Special Features

The Real People in the Garden: Comprehensive interactive tour of Savannah with historical notes and interviews with the people depicted in the book and the movie; Theatrical trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Kevin Spacey	Jim Williams
John Cusack	John Kelso,Delivery Woman
Jack Thompson	Sonny Seiler,Pretty Girl
Alison Eastwood	Mandy Nichols
Irma P. Hall	Minerva
Paul Hipp	Joe Odom
Jude Law	Billy Hanson
Dorothy Loudon	Serena Dawes
Anne Haney	Margaret Williams
Kim Hunter	Betty Harty
Geoffrey Lewis	Luther Driggers
Richard Herd	Henry Skerridge,Juror No. 1
Leon Rippy	Detective Boone
Bob Gunton	Finley Largent
Michael O'Hagan	Geza Von Habsburg
Gary Anthony Williams	Bus Driver
The Lady Chablis	Herself
Tim Black	Jeff Braswell,Alpha
Muriel Moore	Mrs. Baxter
Sonny Seiler	Judge White
Terry Rhoads	Assistant DA
Victor Brandt	Bailiff
Nick Gillie	Juror No. 20
Patrika Darbo	Sara Warren
J. Patrick McCormack	Doctor
Emma Kelly	Herself
Tyrone Lee Weaver	Ellis
Gregory Goossen	Prison Cell Lunatic,Actor
Shannon Eubanks	Mrs. Hamilton
Virginia Duncan	Card Club Woman No. 1,Gentleman in Park
Rhoda Griffis	Card Club Woman No. 2
Judith Robinson	Card Club Woman No. 3
Jo Ann Pflug	Cynthia Vaughn
James Moody	Mr. Glover
Jin Hi Soucy	Receptionist
Michael Rosenbaum	George Tucker
Dan Biggers	Harry Cram
Georgia Allen	Lucille Wright
Collin Wilcox Paxton	Woman at Party
Aleta Mitchell	Alphabette
Michael 'Kevin' Harry	Phillip,Actor
Dorothy Kingery	Jim Williams' Sister,Jim Williams' Niece Amanda,Jim Williams' Niece Susan
Ted Manson	Passer-by
Margaret R. Davis	Ruth
Danny Nelson	Senator
Bree Luck	Woman at Club
Gerry Spence	Hair Dresser
Lennie Niehaus	Composer

Technical Credits

John Lee Hancock

Clint Eastwood	Director,Producer
John Lee Hancock	Screenwriter
Arnold Stiefel	Producer
Phyllis Huffman	Casting
George Orrison	Stunts
Joe Pancake	Special Effects
Steve Riley	Special Effects
Anita Zuckerman	Executive Producer
Willie Burton	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Clint Eastwood re-affirmed his directorial talents with this adept, atmospheric portrait of Savannah, GA based on John Berendt's wildly popular non-fiction bestseller. Eastwood wonderfully captures the pervasive feel of the Southern city's idiosyncratic subculture: The Savannah of Midnight is a world in which the everyday and the bizarre are one and the same. The film itself has a similar Southern drawl, unhurried and rich with suggestion. Kevin Spacey plays the potentially-murderous Jim Williams such that the character becomes a metaphor for the internally-conflicted South. John Cusack is reliably likeable, though the film's dependence on his character to move the plot along is one of its chief weaknesses. A couple of factors may have harmed Midnight's success at the box office: its laid-back, 155-minute running time is a bit long for most attention spans; and Eastwood took on the near-impossible task of visualizing a story that had already been realized in the heads of millions of readers. Still, the film remains a wonderful snapshot of an original, completely American slice of life.