The Walker

To be a walker is to be something if not someone or, if you prefer, a walker is someone without being something. Whatever way you look at it, there is something that it's desperately not there. Woody Harrelson and his character, act. Acting as a way of life. Trying to be trivial all the time runs the risk of making triviality something truly important. We're standing on the sidelines looking in without seeing because if we saw, well, if we saw, things may be dramatically different. This is a film by Paul Schrader - a master in getting into the hearts and souls of the outsiders - and Harrelson is an outsider living in, with a very specific awareness. Great! A film to savor and listen to, attentively. Not very often one can actually say that. Other than Harrelson, Lauren Bacall, Kristin Scott Thomas and Lily Tomlin shine.

The Walker is about a profession many of us aren't aware of: socialites like Mr. Carter Page III, who escort ladies who happened to be the wives of senators and congressman around Washington DC and play cards and socialize (hence the 'social' part of the title). But it's also about a murder mystery, where a man is killed who is connected with Lynn Lockner, married to senator Larry Lockner. Who killed him, for what motive, and what are the connections and the fall-out of the scandal, are all a part of the narrative for Paul Schrader, the mind-games of Washington, the slick veneer and quietly accepted facts of corruption and greed and, usually, scandal. But it's also about this man, the Walker, how he is viewed by the women he is polite to (indeed his politeness is pointed out as a weakness, as "Don't be so polite" in this DC society), and his own self flagged by the legacy of his father, a hero in the eyes of many in DC. Oh, and he's gay, though this is only the ice on the cake.

For Paul Schrader, it's a mature work that shows him skillfully working out this side of DC that is fresh in perspective. He is able to write the dramatic scenes much better, however, than those of that of a thriller. One senses Schrader's investment in his own material hit high points when he just has two people in a room talking about the heart of a matter, like an argument between Carter and Emek that is really all about Carter's father but exactly about Carter the whole time, or a scene between Carter and Lauren Bacall's elder lady when he finds out a vital piece of information (the "black sheep" dialog). Scenes like those are very good, while a chase scene down an alley feels weaker, filmed with tired and repetitive dutch angles and close-ups.

So, if it isn't quite one of Schrader's best films, albeit not his worst, it is definitely an achievement for Harrelson. He disappears into the character of Carter Page III (note the III) as an effeminate but strong-willed Southern man who hides his baldness with a hair piece and keeps his politeness and calm demeanor as something that is partly natural and partly a cover for what is really deep down someone who has disappointed others around him. It's so fascinating to see this actor who, indeed, once was a co-star in White Men Can't Jump, tackle such a complex character and succeed in every scene with depth and sensitivity and subtlety. He is nothing less than totally absorbing, especially up against old pros like Bacall and Ned Beatty.

THE WALKER is an extremely biting, well written, dark suspense thriller by Paul Schrader with a knock out cast of actors that blend right into their nasty characters with humor and a killing sense of themselves and their self worth. As one character points out, "it's always about the money", and in THE WALKER, I would say that it is ALWAYS about POWER and the perception of what people think of you and the power you hold.

Woody Harrelson is simply terrific in his role of "Walker", and you are reminded of Truman Capote and the attention he gave to society women to propel his importance of being a "gossip monger". The film also brings to the surface the superficiality of "nail a star, be a star", and the underlying elements of what it takes to make it in Washington politics. THE WALKER, like CAPOTE and INFAMOUS, leaves you with a desire to find a life built on something more than being famous and well known and for Woody Harrelson, to create a relationship built upon the honesty of his sexuality.

Carter Page III (Woody Harrelson) is effete, witty, charming, full of himself and full of ripe, juicy, trenchant commentary on the Washington social scene and its denizens. He has to be - it is literally his life. Carter is what's known in Washingtonian parlance as a "walker". He squires about the rich and powerful wives of the rich and powerful men on the Hill, whenever they require a male escort to attend dinners, benefits and other social gatherings. You know - the ones their husbands would rather jump off a building than attend. And because Carter is a bonafied "Friend of Dorothy," there's none of that pesky bother of having to worry if he'll climb into the wives' beds, the way he slips so smoothly into their confidences.

But somewhere between the glittering parties and the bon-mot laden games of canasta, reality bites in the form of a brutal murder; the victim being the lover of one of Carter's "special friends." Ever the dutiful confidante, Carter covers for her without realizing exactly what he's letting himself in for, especially when the connections he thought he had begin to dry up and wither like the flowers on a table from a party that ended years ago. Though he literally has spent his life putting the "art" into artifice, Carter must now look beyond the boundaries of his superficiality and that of his so-called friends and acquaintances, if he wants to save his own hide.

The "outsider looking in", even if he is part of the world that holds him at arm's length is one of director Paul Schrader's favorite themes; one he has visited repeatedly, whether he served as a writer (TAXI DRIVER), a director (AUTO FOCUS) or both (AMERICAN GIGOLO) as he does here. As he explores it yet again using the country's seat of power as his landscape, he is certainly served well by an outstanding cast.

Harrelson's acting has never been as subtle and yet powerful as he inhabits Carter, rather than just playing the character. Kristin Scott-Thomas radiates beauty and desperation as his friend-in-trouble, and the ensemble is well-rounded out by Willem Dafoe as Scott-Thomas's husband; the regal presence of Lauren Bacall; Lily Tomlin in a very restrained mode as a power broker's wife; Ned Beatty as her husband, Mary Beth Hurt as another one of Carter's "canasta" group and William Hope as an extremely unpleasant Attorney General who is very reminiscent of a certain Mr. Spitzer.

Special mention must be made of Moritz Bleibtreu as Emek, Carter's German-Iranian boyfriend and the only person who really stands by him when the designer crap hits the fan, and has nothing to gain from it but his partner's love. (Well, there IS the matter of finding a gallery to exhibit his politically-charged photo art, based explicitly on the the Abu Ghraib scandal). But kudos to Bleibtreu for matching Harrelson as they modulate the complexities of their relationship without falling back on the usual stereotypical tics and camp flourishes.

With the lush production design and costuming augmented by the oh-so fitting songs of Brian Ferry (which Anne Dudley's nearly ambient score is based upon), THE WALKER is a pretty film to look at and be taken in by...as pretty and alluring as Carter is himself. Until you discover - as he himself does - that underneath all the trappings, the wealth, the elitist vanity is a void, where friendship, compassion, love, fidelity...not a single one of those things really exists. The movie isn't so much about him solving the murder mystery that hangs over him like the Sword of Damocles, but the "mystery of his own life" - finding all of those things he traded in for life among the political elite.

Not a light and frivolous way to pass the time, much like most Schrader films. In fact, many viewers might turn it off before getting halfway through. But the Oscar-worthy work from Harrelson is definitely worth sticking around for.

A rather forgettable mystery bolstered by a remarkable lead performance and some good supporting performances, as well. The lead is played by Woody Harrelson, in my mind one of the most undervalued actors of his generation. He plays Carter Page III, a dandy fop in Washington D.C. who spends his life escorting the wives of politicians to parties and functions that their husbands don't wish to attend. He accompanies Kristin Scott Thomas to her lover's apartment one day, and she finds him there dead. Harrelson protects Thomas from getting involved, but entangles himself in the investigation. And when he and his lover (Moritz Bleibteu) begin investigating on their own, they open a whole new can of worms. To me, the mystery seems pretty half-baked. I think, even at the end, I only kind of understood why the man was murdered. Director Schraeder is far more interested in the character of Carter Page III, but even when he dives headlong into character development, it can feel forced. It's mostly only because of Harrelson that the film works at all. I'd recommend the film solely for his performance. Also in the cast are Lauren Bacall, Lily Tomlin and Ned Beatty, but none of them are given all that much to do. Besides Harrelson, Thomas and Bleibtreu provide fine work.