Product Details

• Actors: Philip Seymour Hoffman Robert De Niro, Chris Bauer, Rory Cochrane, Dapne Rubin-Vega Barry Miller
• Directors: Joel Schumacher
• Format: NTSC, Color, Dolby, Digital Video Transfer, Closed-captioned
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM/UA
• Run Time: 101 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (70 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000K5OTNO
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #570,121 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Walter (Robert De Niro) is a homophobic policeman who suffers a stroke while responding to gunshots in his own apartment building; for speech therapy, he starts taking singing lessons from his neighbor Rusty (Philip Seymour Hoffman of Magnolia, Boogie Nights, and Happiness), a gay drag queen who's saving up money for a sex-change operation. However, there's another story line, about a drug dealer and his goons trying to find money that was stolen from them, brutally beating up everyone in their path. De Niro and Hoffman, both extremely talented actors, perform admirably. Written and directed by Joel Schumacher, whose eclectic career includes Batman & Robin, A Time to Kill, Flatliners, and St. Elmo's Fire.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Offbeat movie with a point, May 15, 2000

By 

"flickjunkie" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flawless [VHS] (VHS Tape)

`Flawless' is an offbeat story about Walter Koontz (Robert De Niro) an ex-cop who suffers a stroke and loses partial ability to speak. In an effort to regain some of his speech capabilities it is recommended to him that he take singing lessons. So he decides to ask his neighbor Rusty (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who is a female impersonator, to give him singing lessons. This is an unlikely pairing because Walter is a belligerent homophobe.

This film was written and directed by Joel Schumacher. His story, though peculiar, makes some powerful points. This is a story about hatred, bigotry and reconciliation. Walter learns through his disability who his friends really are, and who they are not. It seems that the people he hates treat him a lot better than the people he thought he loved. Ultimately, he is able to look past his prejudices to find the human elements that make him and Rusty not so different after all.

This was an excellent character study of both main characters, giving a lot of insight into the motivations and lives of each. Unfortunately, the story meanders too often to irrelevant characters and scenes that don't really contribute much (like the Gay Republicans). Schumacher would have been better to concentrate on the relationship between Walter and Rusty rather than digressing so frequently into Rusty's relationships with his friends.

De Niro was outstanding in this film. Not only was he excellent in the emotional portrayal of a man having to deal with a sudden debilitating stroke, but he was very realistic in his portrayal of the physical disability itself. The combination of his struggles to do the simplest of tasks and the obvious look of anguish and frustration on his face was poignant and affecting.

Hoffman brought a lot of emotional energy to his part, and his imitation of a drag queen was passable, though somewhat forced and unnatural. Wilson Jermaine Heredia, who played Cha-Cha, the winner of the Flawless contest, was a much more convincing queen.

I rated this film a 7/10. This is a good film that helps us understand that the remedy for the fear wrought of our differences is understanding, not hatred. In that respect it makes an important contribution. If cross dressing and blatantly gay themes put you off, perhaps you should defy your inclinations and see it.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Humanitarian Message Delivered with Great Style and Humor, August 11, 2000

By 

"takintime" (Raleigh, NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flawless [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This film is a fine blend of superior acting and great humor about subject matter that could, in less capable hands, be tragic or worse yet, maudlin. Joel Schumacher, director of *St. Elmo's Fire* and *Batman and Robin*, among others, does a really excellent job here. Nothing needs to be said about the skills of veteran actor Robert DeNiro. Philip Seymour Hoffman, a young actor who has rightfully come into his own in the past decade, gives one of his best and most insightful performances.

DeNiro is Walter, a decorated hero of the NYPD, who suffers a stroke that affects him emotionally as well as physically. His doctor suggests singing lessons to help him improve his speech. Rather than be seen in public any more than necessary, Walter asks Rusty (Hoffman), another tenant in his apartment building who coordinates a drag queen stage show, to give him the lessons. The fun begins immediately, as these two have had a mutual dislike for each other from their earliest encounters.

Critics have said, among other things, that: (1) the dialogue between Rusty and Walter is cliche-ridden and (2) the film seems to say that all gay men in NYC are either drag queens or "log cabin Republicans." Rubbish! Walter's comments to Rusty at the beginning of their relationship are the usual things you would expect to hear from a homophobic male. Rusty's comebacks are as often as not laugh-out-loud funny, as well as very wise, and they definitely show his strength of character.

As for the alleged limited depiction of the NYC male homosexual population, it is really a matter of "birds of a feather flock together." The movie doesn't pretend to give an overall view of the gay/lesbian population in NY or anywhere else. Rusty and his friends spend a lot of time rehearsing their nightly stage show, giving the show, and gathering with their friends at favorite drag queen hang-outs--probably perfectly typical behavior for this specialized population group. And it is clear in the one confrontation between Rusty's gang and the "button down" gay Republicans that the latter group finds the drag queens' appearance and mannerisms unacceptable. Who's to say that others in the city's gay community didn't/don't feel the same way?

It is said that upon his first reading of the script, Hoffman recognized that Rusty wasn't really gay, but a transexual--a woman trapped in a man's body--a tough concept for either gay or straight people to grasp. Though "straight" himself, Hoffman benefitted from the character coaching of the real drag queen celebrities who took the roles of Rusty's best friends and his partners in producing the night club act. The result is an unforgettable performance in which Rusty proves to be the best person of all to help Walter learn to cope with a body he has come to despise. Rusty, who is making plans to have sex change surgery, knows more than almost anyone else could what it is to be trapped in a body that doesn't fit the person inside it.

The film is alternately deeply moving and uproariously funny as Walter and Rusty come to really understand and bond with one another. There are not many movies that have tackled the idea of a gay man and a straight man becoming true friends. This film handles one possible scenario for that topic in a way that is stylish, uplifting, and unforgettable.

If the story's premise is the tiniest bit contrived, so what? That has been so of a lot of excellent books and movies, and it hasn't hurt the story one bit. It is inherent to fiction that it be a bit contrived. This film leaves you hoping that some day there will be a more enlightened world in which life imitates the art in this film.

Cheers to Schumacher, DeNiro, Hoffman, the rest of the cast, and anyone else who helped this delighful story come into being on film. Forget the critics, be bold, and give this film a viewing. You'll be glad you did.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable, but certainly not "flawless", February 12, 2001

By 

Linda Linguvic (New York City) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Flawless [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I rented this video by mistake -- literally. I had chosen another film but when I got home the wrong film was inside the box. I had never heard of this 1999 movie but it was starring Robert DeNiro and Philip Seymour Hoffman, who I just seen play a wonderful character role as the writer in State and Main, and so I decided to watch it.

The theme is interesting. Robert DeNiro plays an aging former security guard who lives in a run-down apartment house peopled by some weird and interesting characters. Philip Seymour Hoffman is cast as the drag queen across the courtyard who taunts the homophobic DeNiro who amuses himself by paying for women he meets at a sleazy dance hall.

Then DeNiro has a stroke. When he is released from the hospital his helplessness makes him contemplate suicide. His physical therapist recommends singing lessons to help his slurred speech. "At least you'll be able to have phone sex" says the therapist. As Philip Seymour Hoffman is a singing teacher, these two fine actors are thrown together for some excellent scenes. Usually drag queen characters play comic roles but his is a very serious part, as is DeNiro's. I understand also that DeNiro visited rehabilitation centers and worked with a physical therapist in order to get the speech and physical problems of a stroke victim correct. This authenticity comes through in his outstanding acting. There's much to say in this film about courage and compassion. The chemistry between the two actors make it all very real.

It's too bad that the rest of the film is of the Grade B variety. There's some silly plot about a drug deal and hidden cash and some bad guy gangster scenes that are overacted and feel like the amateur hour. There's too many stereotype characters who live in the apartment house. There are too many subplots. The problem with this film is that it can't decide if its a comedy or a drama. It's strongest in its dramatic moments but then seems to fade off and become just too busy and distracting. DeNiro's and Hoffman's performances are so good, however, that it's worth watching just for that. There's much food for thought here and good issues raised about physically challenged people.

So for those of you who don't' necessarily demand perfection in every video you see, I give this film a modest recommendation. I know that I enjoyed it in spite of the fact that it was not "flawless".