Flawless (1999)

Author: Old Mother Hubbard

“Flawless” (1999) I was trying to watch a different film but I couldn’t get the damn thing to work. I noticed “Flawless” and I remembered it to be sort of bizarre so I watched it again. First time through was probably more enjoyable than this time.

Philip Seymour Hoffman portrays Rusty, a drag queen wishing to have gender reassignment surgery. Hoffman is very convincing in the role and was nominated for several awards for his performance, rightly so. Hoffman’s performance in “Flawless” is almost the complete opposite of his role in “Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead” (2007).

Robert De Niro, on the other hand, portrays Walter, an ex-security guard who suffers a stroke while trying to help a neighbor. De Niro’s performance is somewhat wooden. How else could you play a stoke patient? This seemed to be just a skate-by type role for De Niro that literally any actor could have played just as well. Although the film is worth watching for Hoffman’s performance the story is kind of uninspired and generic, with the local gangster guys looking for the money that was stolen from them. It gets kind of kooky near the end with Hoffman running through the hallways looking like he is insane. Worth a watch but nothing to write home about. 3 stars.