Lots of people stating how emotional and enjoyable this film is, so I had to see it myself. Unfortunately, I can't agree with that. Robert De Niro is the grumpy from the white snow story; he's always mad, bad humored and ready to fight. Philip Seymour Hoffman plays a stressed drag queen who is always calling bad names to offend other people-- everybody in this movie seems to have no problem in offending others. The money debts situations I found to be unnecessary through the whole time, but in the end it had a reason-- which isn't that good anyways. Throughout the entire movie nothing much really happens; it's only simple talking, scolding and discussions. There isn't a character that you feel like you can identify with, since they're all very nuts. In the end, I feel "Flawless" is a waste of time; the movie goes on and on and when it gets to the climax, the outcome is minimal. Pass it.

An interesting film that seems to be about two completely different people helping each other. That is well and good. On the other hand I think the chances of something like what takes place in this movie happening in real life are in the negative integer zone. Furthermore I think the film fosters myths about things related to the world of transsexualism re some very high costs being quoted by the films wanna be trans character related to what sex change stuff costs. I think that would tend to create the idea that anyone wishing to undergo some kind of a transsexual process either has to be loaded with money or prepared to take-a big bunch of money from somewhere, (see crime) which does nothing to promote understanding of the real issue-which is generally not a mega buck affair-and by the way-it is often a complete disaster, due to drug reactions, which are not accounted for in drug descriptions related to the subject. That would be a problem. I found it a bit hard to watch in places as the actor playing a wanna be trans isn't a wanna be trans. Call me stupid but there are plenty out there. Fairly forgettable performance by Robert De Niro, falling far short of his films like 'Goodfellas' or even '15 Minutes'.

Is there NOTHING DeNiro CAN'T do? Not to mention Phillip Seymour Hoffman!! Robert has been in my Top 10 List of Actors for many years, and now Phillip is climbing to be right at #10.This movie sure pulls at the heart strings, and for me being a Gay man who's grown up with similar figures in his life, I can't help but love and feel warmed by the way these people handle the "Lot In Life" they've been given. "Happiness is but a choice away." These characters show us how their choices were experienced, and hopefully it will help many others in their current choices.Thank you, Robert! Thank you, Phillip! for giving us such great entertainment, and maybe a lesson or two along the way. :-)

Walter Koontz (Robert De Niro) is a retired conservative cop living in a Hell's Kitchen slum across from a noisy drag queen named Rusty (Philip Seymour Hoffman). When he suffers a stroke while trying to rescue a prostitute from being murdered in an apartment above his, Walt is recommended to begin taking singing lessons to restore movement on the right side of his face (which has become paralyzed). Due to the fact that he has little money and can't leave his apartment complex, Walt begins to take lessons from Rusty - who lives in a flamboyantly decorated area ("Welcome to fairyland!") and is often visited by drag queen friends.This sounds like a lame buddy-movie formula - and it's not great - but it was better than I expected, especially coming from one of the cinema's worst living directors, Joel Schumacher. But even Schumacher has made some genuinely good films ("Phone Booth" and "Falling Down" are his best) -- and this is one of them.It's not all that good, but it's slightly above-average and is really worth seeing for its amazing performances. De Niro is good (in a role similar to that in "Awakenings") but it's Hoffman - pre-"Capote" Oscar - who totally steals the show as Rusty, portraying him (or is it "her"?) as a deep and troubled human being. The little scenes such as the one where Rusty mentions his family and his conservative father are what add more to the character.This is a bit too gritty and dark -- it's not the light-hearted buddy comedy that the ads make it out to be (the trailer is totally misleading) -- but I found it engaging and well-acted.