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>>The New York Post
>>LIZ SMITH
>>
>>MAYBE it was an omen? At a press screening the other night of "Midnight in
>the
>>Garden of Good and Evil," the movie's screenwriter, John Lee Hancock,
>couldn't
>>get any popcorn. He was willing to pay for it, but was told by one of the
>>determined young ladies behind the candy counter that he could have
>>refreshments only if he produced a little blue slip of paper. "Uh, I don't
>>have a little blue slip of paper. However, I did write this movie. Does
>that
>>rate a bag of popcorn?" Nope. Finally, p.r. types from Warner Bros.
noticed
>>what was happennig and raced over, showering Hancock with little blue
slips
>of
>>paper (and more popcorn than he could ever consume).
>>
>>Enough about popcorn; how is the movie, based on John Berendt's
best-seller
>>about murder, sex and voodoo in Savannah, Ga.? Well, it's ... very long.
>>Producer-director Clint Eastwood apparently didn't want to disappoint any
>of
>>the book's devoted fans, who worship every one of Berendt's words. So it
>>appears that almost every chapter and episode of the novel has been
>translated
>>onscreen. Judicious editing would help this movie a lot! All the same,
>there's
>>no denying the skill of some of the actors. Kevin Spacey, as the antiques
>>dealer accused of killing his hustler boyfriend, is brilliant. But when is
>>Spacey ever anything less than tiptop? Alison Eastwood, Clint's daughter,
>is a
>>sexy surprise and even warbles - alluringly - a few bars of "Come Rain or
>Come
>>Shine." (The soundtrack, composed of Johnny Mercer classics, is splendid.)
>>
>>But it is cross-dressing actor the Lady Chablis who steals this movie,
>>bringing it to crackling life with every appearance! He-she is a sizzling
>>comic knockout. In fact, Chablis seems to be in another movie entirely -
>dare
>>we say a better one? Director Eastwood allows this outrageous performer to
>>commit grand larceny, leaving the rest of the cast looking mighty limp in
>>his-her wake. It was Clint's best directorial decision.
>>
>>People are either going to love or hate this movie. Nobody's going to
shrug
>it
>>off. Still, someone was heard to say, "The happiest person in Hollywood
>when
>>the reviews come out will be Sondra Locke."
