Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

ShangLuda Admirable film.

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

dianamercedeshowell It is at least a five because I watched it to the very end. Harrelson is utterly inappropriate for the role of a gay escort of DC's bored housewives, but you cannot take your eyes of of him. I was about to pop out the disc when his character did something really dumb. I had to continue watching to understand why he did that. The Walker isn't a literal remake of American Gigolo, but Paul Schrader is recycling the same material. Carter Page III (Harrelson) thinks he has everything under control. Gets involved with the wrong people, the rich and powerful are always evil, right? Discovers these people aren't really his friends after he is suspected of killing a lobbyist and doors begin to slam in his face. Plenty of cameos by really good actors...Ned Beatty, Willem Dafoe, Lily Tomlin, Lauren Bacall. It isn't the script that keeps you watching, it is watching pros execute their craft. Except for these cameos and Harrelson's charisma, this movie has no pulse.

JasparLamarCrabb There's something going on here but what it is isn't exactly clear. Paul Schrader's muddled thriller benefits greatly from a very interesting Woody Harrelson performance along with a highly colorful supporting cast. Harrelson is a Washington DC society dandy who escorts ("walks") married women to various functions. He know all their secrets and where all the bodies are buried. When one doyenne (Kristin Scott Thomas) becomes embroiled in the murder case of a shifty lobbyist, Harrelson steps in and nearly takes the rap. Like the heroes in past Schrader films (LIGHT SLEEPER, American GIGOLO), Harrelson's character is deeply flawed and more than a little disinterested in his own fate. Harrelson plays his role as if channeling both Truman Capote AND Hercule Poirot! Schrader's script has a greatly paced first half but then all is rushed for a tidy completion. Still, the film is immensely watchable and full of many great lines of dialog ("never get between a friend and a firing squad"). Lauren Bacall is great as a grand old dame and Lily Tomlin, Ned Beatty and Marybeth Hurt are in it too.

blanche-2 Woody Harrelson is "The Walker" in this 2007 drama directed by Paul Schrader. It takes place in Washington, D.C., where Carter Page III (Harrelson) takes society women to parties and concerts when their husbands are out of town or don't want to attend. He's gay, very charming, with a rich family history of successful and admired men. The women love his stories and he always looks debonair.One day, Carter drives his friend Lynn (Kristin Scott-Thomas) to her lover's house for a tryst. Both her husband and lover Robbie are well-known, and her liaison's with this lover are kept secret.Lynn exits the house in shock and tells Carter that Robbie is dead, stabbed, and if anyone finds out she was seeing him, it will ruin her husband's career. Carter chivalrously offers to take her home and then return and report the murder himself as if he was visiting Robbie about some investments and found the body.The police, of course, are suspicious. It's a high-profile case and they want to close it. Someone is leaking information to them also that Lynn and Robbie were lovers. Carter stands his ground, even though he's encouraged to look after his own best interests. He soon finds himself out of the social scene, and Lynn leaves town.The story here is not about the murder, it's about Carter being used and abused by these women. He would do anything for them, but if he needed something, he wouldn't get it from any of them. It's apparent that he doesn't realize that at first. It's also apparent that being the descendant of respected men means that people keep looking at him and wondering how he got to be the way he did. He wants to do a noble thing; he wants to be loyal.The wonderful cast includes Lauren Bacall, Ned Beatty, Lily Tomlin, and Willem Dafoe. Harrelson gives a fantastic performance as a slow-talking, dashing Southerner who normally keeps things on a superficial level and doesn't show his true feelings. Lauren Bacall is a society gossip who thinks more highly of Carter and sees her group of friends for what they are. She's great, although some didn't understand her attitude at the end of the movie. She respected Carter enough to be honest, as opposed to her friends. When you see the film, you'll know what I mean.Scandal, politics, greed, affairs, none of this is new. And this film gives the impression that a few things were left on the cutting room floor that should have been included. This makes the film occasionally confusing. However, scandal, politics, greed, and affairs are just background for The Walker. The true story is how, in a crisis, you find out who your real friends are. You find out you don't have many. And in an atmosphere like this film's, none.A great soundtrack accompanies The Walker, and one gets an impression of Washington society that's not very positive, but when has it been? Worth seeing for Harrelson's performance especially.

kennethpitchford I, too, had my troubles with this film, but I will not rehash the plot nor evaluate the actors, all of whom were at the top of their form. What amazed me so much is that a film could trust the audience enough to let us infer what remained unsaid by the characters. This is something like a James novel in which nothing happens. Isabel (in Portrait of a Lady) sits and stares at a fire for a whole chapter. Nothing happens. Yet her fate is sealed by the time the fire has burned down. Of course, the modern movie-goer will find this boring and the film will provoke cries of 'worst film of the century.' But once I learned to trust the movie's reticence and pace, I found that I was able to follow a thought process that became a collaboration between the film- maker and myself. This is so rare in movies that it will invoke fury or yawns in those used to cheap thrills and pat plots. True, the plot in this film is almost nonexistent. But then this is not an ordinary movie.My collaboration with Schrader and Harrelson resulted in some wry reflections on my own life, on loyalty and disloyalty. And on the mistaken idea that manners and superficiality will be enough to mask "the horror and the boredom" of life.