Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)

John Cusack Film Fest Movie #8

Synopsis: At some point, John Kelso (Cusack) says: “it’s like Gone with the Wind on mescaline”…actually, that’s not bad.

Blurb From the VHS Jacket: “The most important party of the Savannah Christmas season is at that genteel town’s most elegant home. Black tie. Bluebloods. Then bang! Affable host Jim Williams shoots a man to death. The party is over, the mystery begins.”

What Did I Learn?: Savannah Georgia is apparently deep in the heart of voodoo country. Who knew?

You Might Like This Movie If: You want to party with some of Savannah's swankiest citizens.  

Really?: 1) Holy shit, is everyone in Savannah some sort of bizarre weirdo? 2) Wouldn’t at least some of Savannah’s African American population already know about the Lady Chablis?

Rating: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is an entertaining courtroom drama that gets a little overloaded with Southern gothic. Cusack plays a likeable bloke (in many movies, he’s the calm, normal protagonist who’s surrounded by strange people and this is no exception), and Kevin Spacey is quite good as the urbane antique dealer, Jim Williams. While I like this film, Clint Eastwood went overboard with wacky characters (Eastwood pal Geoffrey Lewis plays scientist who’s surrounded by horseflies – I still don’t know why he’s in this movie), scenes that don’t work and a romance between Cusack and Alison Eastwood that seems tacked-on. 7/10 stars.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119668/