The Walker (2007)

Calificación de los usuarios:

6.2/10   

Director:

Paul Schrader

Guionista (WGA):

Paul Schrader (written by)

Fecha de Lanzamiento:

10 agosto 2007 (UK)

Género:

Crimen | Drama | Misterio

Frase comercial:

Everyone loves a good scandal

Plot:

An escort who caters to Washington D.C.'s society ladies becomes involved in a murder case.

Plot Keywords:

Gay Son | Secret | Investigation | Friend | Murder

Premios:

1 win

Comentarios de los usuarios:

Meditation upon the true meaning of loyalty

US TV Schedule:

Wed. July 8	8:00 PM	TMC
Sun. July 12	11:40 PM	TMC

Reparto

Woody Harrelson	...	Carter Page III
Kristin Scott Thomas	...	Lynn Lockner
Lauren Bacall	...	Natalie Van Miter
Ned Beatty	...	Jack Delorean
Moritz Bleibtreu	...	Emek Yoglu
Mary Beth Hurt	...	Chrissie Morgan
Lily Tomlin	...	Abigail Delorean
Willem Dafoe	...	Larry Lockner
William Hope	...	Mungo Tenant
Geff Francis	...	Detective Dixon
Steven Hartley	...	Robbie Kononsberg
Garrick Hagon	...	John Krebs
Michael J. Reynolds	...	Ethan Withal
Allen Lidkey	...	Andrew Salesperson
Stewart Alexander	...	Edgar

También conocida como:

Los walker (Argentina) (cable TV title) [es]

MPAA:

Rated R for language, some violent material and nude images.

Duración:

108 min

País:

USA | UK

Idioma:

Inglés

Color:

Color

Relación de Aspecto:

2.35 : 1

Sonido:

Dolby Digital EX

Clasificación:

USA:R | Ireland:15A | Canada:14A | Sweden:11 | Finland:K-13 | Singapore:M18 | Australia:M | New Zealand:M

Locaciones de Filmación:

Isle of Man

Compañía:

Kintop Pictures

Citas:

Natalie Van Miter: [looking at the placards on the table] ... There *you* are, and between us; The Sub-head of the Task Force on Terrorism. That man couldn't find the ground if he fell on it.

Conexiones de Película:

References "Blind Ambition" (1979)

Banda de Sonido:

Aint Nothin Funny

Meditation upon the true meaning of loyalty

This is a fascinating film which seems to be something other than what it is. It is absolutely not a thriller, although many people might be confused and believe it was meant to be one. In the film, a great deal of corruption, murder, and intrigue is portrayed at the top of the political hierarchy in Washington, D.C. But that is merely the setting and milieu for a wholly different story. The film is really about the true meaning of loyalty, and hence it is a disguised morality tale. The lead character, played by Woody Harrelson, is an elegant homosexual who escorts wives of leading politicians to social events, what is called 'a walker'. In the course of doing this, he accidentally becomes involved in a serious scandal involving murder and ruthless intrigue, which has no connection with him at all. The character whom Harrelson portrays is called Carter Page III, whose grandfather and father of the same name had been famous Washington politicians from the South. His father had been a 'hero of the Watergate hearings', and is clearly modelled on the late Senator Sam Ervin, Junior, of North Carolina. Page 'the Walker' thus has access to all the top social circles of Washington, but is looked upon with a certain amount of scorn because he is viewed as such a decline from the fame of his forebears. It is only as the film evolves that Page reluctantly reveals that in fact his father and grandfather had both been crooks, and were not heroes at all, and that he feels bad about his heritage, the endless praise for which he has to sit and listen to silently, while keeping his own views to himself. He is very camp and people don't really take him seriously as a person, considering him a hopeless lightweight. He even says of himself: 'I am superficial'. But this film is a study of what lies beneath the illusory surface of a supposedly superficial man. It is only in the last two minutes of the film that the full truth is revealed, and the film has its sad and pensive ending, where the meaning of the film really becomes clear. Harrelson depicts an unforgettable character, 'a man in full'. His Southern accent is as thick as heavy cream. He has to a certain extent modelled himself on Marlon Brando in 'Streetcar' and 'The Fugitive Kind', not always successfully, but it is a great effort and largely works, with the elegance, cufflinks, and finicky mannerisms of a dandy added very successfully on top. Paul Schrader's script is wonderfully subtle and well-crafted, but he is a much better writer than he is a director, and his shots are badly framed, which indicates that his cinematographer did not make up for his deficiencies at all. The sound is also inadequate, but then that is a common problem these days with Hollywood films, where all the good sound men seem to be dead. One problem with the direction is that Schrader was too close to the material. He could not stand back from it and see where a bit more clarity was needed for the sake of a possibly baffled viewer and instead he worked to increase rather than to diminish the sometimes excessive subtlety of this tale. In other words, it could and should have been a better film than it is. Harrelson needed a bit of toning down in some scenes. After all, he was way out on a limb in his performance, and although he didn't fall off a branch, he trembled amongst the leaves sometimes and could have done with some more help. Kristin Scott-Thomas's performance is impeccable, but when has one of her performances not been? Has anyone ever seen her do anything less than perfect on screen? I haven't. She isn't afraid to let herself look really terrible, haggard and wobbly in a harsh light if it helps the story. This film is about Harrelson showing the ultimate loyalty, the last man you would think capable of it, as an act of personal redemption. The end of the film is so perfectly performed and directed that one forgives the film any previous imperfections it may have had. It was worth waiting for. But what a sad and devastating realisation comes then, so impeccably presented. I cannot reveal what it is, but it is the whole point. The way Carter Page III comes out of it all as a hero reminds me of the husband in 'Brick Lane': sometimes the most unlikely people outshine everyone else in the most unexpected way when you see the true depths of their character. Schrader's perceptions in this story are immensely sensitive. This was an extraordinarily ambitious undertaking, and although the result is not perfect, so that the film is not a classic, Schrader and his actors all came close and can be justly proud of what they achieved. After all, it is not easy to make films about what is not spoken and what is not seen. Most people don't bother. So please keep it up, y'all.