kartaron

A retired PI who lives with a wealthy entertainment family finds himself involved in a mystery. A harmless errand turns into a brush with death and reveals clues to an apparent suicide two decades ago. This drama brings an all star cast, including Gene Hackman, Paul Newman, Susan Sarandon and James Garner as leads.

Twilight however, can't live up to the expectation. One of the problems is the cast itself. Of the 9 major speaking roles, 6 are over 50 years of age, making the plot feel downright elderly. The movie is somber and always serious, but the script has the actors saying and doing silly things. One has to believe that Paul Newman (the retired PD/PI) is basically inept and foolish at the beginning, but dominating and in control by the finale. That situation might be more believable in a rookie film.

But muddled characters are at home in this movie. They appear and disappear as needed, withhold information when they have no reason to, do things that defy explanation, change their loyalties with little reason or complaint. Plot devices that might seem cliche in some directors hands, seem heavyhanded or infantile in this movie. The few action sequences are filmed poorly with one notable exception. Some characters seem to have no point at all and should have been written out. Sarandon, Schreiber and Hackman however, are exceptions and give fine performances. Too bad they had such minor roles.

The plot has major blinders on as well. For instance, Newman is found at multiple crime scenes in compromising situations. At none of these is he given more than a stern questioning and a nasty look. The motivations of the police are ignored to better serve the mechanations of the plot. For other characters experiences are forgotten, obvious possibilities are ignored, coincidental meetings are commonplace, and the bad guys painstakingly leave a trail back to themselves for Newman. Heck, they may as well have named Reese Witherspoon's character "Plot Device" for all the purpose she has in the movie. Although she may have been included to attract the under 70 crowd.

By the end all of the characters are required to be so mallable and shadowy that none of them seem real, none can be trusted and you certainly cant care enough about their welfare to be concerned about the conclusion.

I thought at first this was filmed for the asian TV market because of the obvious set design and film quality at the beginning(reminiscent of Dark Shadows). However, the film slowly builds in pace and scope until it's climax: a duel in an inferno, the burning remains of the mansion of the shogun. It is easily up to the par of the low budget asian action movies of the period. The mythology of the film is quite interesting, both in the time period it is placed and the characters that are included. The samurai that Toshiro Mifune brought to western audiences, Musashi Miyamoto, plays a key part. The only significant flaw to this film is the previously mentioned dub. Not only are the voices not timed properly but almost all the voice actors are VERY poorly chosen and seemingly refuse to emote with their characters. There are some moments with dramatic overacting but anyone seeking information on a film titled Samurai Reincarnation shouldn't be seeking subtlety. Also of note, many of the key players of this film including Sonny Chiba and the Director himself were involved in the film The Legend of the Eight Samurai, a film much like this one with similar qualities and flaws(including the dub).