You couldn`t imagine two more incompatible people - Walt Koontz (Robert De Niro) is a retired security guard, regarded as a hero by his former colleagues. He`s also a racist and a bigot. Then upstairs there`s Rusty Zimmerman (Philip Seymour Hoffman) a drag queen who presides over a cabaret show as Busty Rusty. But Walt`s not a total philistine, he likes to head for the local dance club where he performs the tango with one of the hostesses. Then one night there`s a tussle upstairs in one of the apartments, drug dealers are trying to retrieve some stolen money, Walt grabs his gun to sort things out but has a stroke. He survives but has to undergo extensive rehabilitation, he learns to walk but his speech is impaired. Singing lessons are recommended... he heads upstairs again, to Rusty this time...This odd couple romance is rather a strange film. It comes with the pedigreed cast of de Niro and Hoffman who`s given really splendid performances in films like Happiness, Magnolia and The Talented Mr. Ripley and it`s produced by De Niro`s company. Writer/director Joel Schumacher doesn`t quite seem to fit into this mix. This is a man who`s injected high action camp into films like Batman Forever, Dying Young and Flatliners. The problem with the film is that it goes nowhere you don`t expect it to after the first twenty minutes and it doesn`t even leaven the predictability with great witty writing or improbable situations. I watched Flawless with a sort of awed fascination. David`s comment: Very odd film from Joel Schumacher which sets up an interesting situation and then really doesn`t know what to do with it. Though the roles given to Robert De Niro and Phillip Seymour Hoffman might seem interesting, they`re really pretty stereotypical, and there are no surprises for guessing what happens. Some of the dialogue is VERY clunky.
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