The games of characters, the atmosphere of South , the brilliant performance of Kevin Specey and the fascinating work of John Cusack are pieces of a great movie about guilty, truth, desires and their high price. an innocent writer, a rich man, clues and a death as key of dark rooms of the life of community. and, always, the ambiguity between what you see and what you know. sure, the references to "Citizen Kane" iis obvious. maybe, too obvious. but , like it, it is a film about the fragility and shadows of a world more than a man. a film of large games. games of destiny or only sketches of a mind who knows the rules of life.

Directed by Clint Eastwood, "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" stars John Cusack as John Kelso, a big city journalist who travels to Savannah, a small town in the American South. Here he meets a bevy of eccentric characters, one of whom is Jim Williams (Kevin Spacey), a rich landowner and closeted homosexual. When Jim is accused of murdering a man, Kelso proceeds to document the case.At its best, "Midnight" works as a humble noir in which Kelso navigates the seedy underworld of Savannah. Eastwood has loftier intentions, though, and so his film eventually degenerates into a pretentious attempt to say something about fate, justice, local spiritualism, bigotry, homosexuality and power. By its last act, "Midnight" feels more like an attempt to quickly tick boxes and hastily close plot threads than an organic film. Local drag queen Lady Chablis co-stars.6/10 – Worth one viewing. Better examples of Southern Gothic: "Shotgun Stories", "Flesh and Bone" (1993), "The Night of the Hunter", "Swamp Water", "The Young One", "To Kill a Mockingbird", "The Beguiled", "Wise Blood", "Southern Comfort", "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte", "Sweet Bird of Youth" and "The Fugitive Kind".

It started slow and got slower. After an hour I should have stopped watching it. By a bad decision was made and I kept watching it. After two hours I eventually had the good sense to stop watching because nothing interesting had happened in those two hours. If only I'd given up on it sooner I could have spent the time better, perhaps ironing a shirt or cleaning the oven. The title sounded good and the cast was a good one so I expectations might have been raised, but even if I'd just beamed down from space and not known any of the actors my opinion would be no different. It was one of the worst films I've seen in a very long time, if not the worst. Some poor films have something redeeming, but I struggle to think of one for this film.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (or code name: MITGOGAE – damn, even that acronym is too long) was one of those movies I wanted to like more, but still did a lot. It's an enormously interesting story with fantastic characters and it was one of those films that restored (some) of my faith in John Cusack.This movie should be noteworthy for several interesting characters, such as Cusack's John Kelso and definitely, Kevin Spacey's flamboyant Jim Williams. But, overall, the winner goes to The Lady Chablis. She was amazing. And her interactions between her and John were key to the film's success for me. Okay, not just those scenes, but certainly a huge highlight whenever I revisit this film.Another great aspect of MITGOGAE was the setting and cinematography. The John Kelso character is out of his element in this Deep South surrounding and you'd be lying if you don't get swooped up right along with him, exploring on your own the differences from your world and this one. I get just as mesmerized as he is with all that this film sets up in regards to characters, landscaping, the houses and, heck, even the town is a character.Further, the story, a film noir mystery with multiples of twists, is as exciting to us as the onion peals back as it is to John Kelso. It's a murder mystery with intrigue and intelligence. Spacey and his character Jim Williams are both flipping interesting and exciting, it's absolutely a joy to watch him from scene to scene as he's caught up in this.Basically, writer John Kelso gets a freelance 500-word assignment he thinks he was randomly assigned to, to cover the annual extravagant Jim Williams' Christmas Party. Bummed it's not that big of an article, one-time novelist John Kelso begins his reporting when a "self-defense" murder takes place. Intrigued, John expands his investigation and thinks there's more to this story and this town than meets the eye.He's right.While not perfect and has its moments of slow-down and a totally sad ending to me – see it, and you'll know why I was bummed per my words above, it's a movie that draws me back to (the location of) Savannah time and again.If you're a fan of Cusack, Spacey and colorful backdrops, this is the movie for you. Give it a chance, and you might be a fan for life."I've only been here three days and it's just a shooting, but give it time, okay. This place is fantastic. It's like Gone With the Wind on Mescalin. I know you're my agent. Listen to me, they walk imaginary pets here, Garland. On a fvcking leash. Alright? And they're all heavily armed and drunk. New York is boring!" – John Kelso.