Robert Benton
Twilight

In English, the translated title would be “Twilight”, and it’s a slightly noir detective-(love)story from ‘98, which you can watch for an hour and a half without love or hate—completely average—where Paul Newman carries pretty much the whole film in the shoes of the private investigator, a role he plays well despite his age (73 springs). This would be his fourth-to-last film, as well as the second directed by the same director four years prior, Robert Douglas Benton, who made 11 fine films throughout his career (not to mention being awarded 3 Oscars) and wrote the screenplay for 15, including this very “Twilight”.

He was in good company with Susan Sarandon and Gene Hackman, not to mention James Garner and the ever-amiable Giancarlo Esposito, in the role of an improvised sidekick detective who supports Paul Newman at crucial moments. There’s no shortage of shots fired in the dark, nude scenes, being knocked out by pistol-whipping, assorted murders, old flames, and misunderstandings about the protagonist’s manhood and s p o i l e r (prostate problems solved with a jet from the pergola).

It’s worth adding that I sought it out (not just because it was one of the few unseen films in Paul Newman’s long career) after reading that when Susan Sarandon found out her pay would be much lower than that of Paul Newman and Gene Hackman, she was shocked. This was (and perhaps still is) a form of injustice, discriminatory towards actresses compared to actors, almost consolidated in Hollywood, and when Paul Newman found out he simply told her: “I’ll give you some of mine.” So last night I filled this gap, enjoying myself a bit and feeling sad for the loss of two great actors, whose new films we’ll never see again.

P.S. It seems that back then, the film was a bit of a flop at the box office, earning less than its budget, which doesn’t automatically mean it was worth throwing away.