Flawless (1999)

A Class Act All The Way
Whether or not you like this film will depend largely on how you feel about the plot. A story about a musically inclined drag queen who teaches a paralyzed stroke victim how to sing in a crumbling apartment building, while a local gangster and his goons terrorize the inhabitants looking for drug money won't appeal to everyone. That said, I absolutely loved it. Even if the drug money subplot is a bit contrived, the outstanding performances of Robert De Niro and Philip Seymour Hoffman more than make up for the deficiency. De Niro practically becomes Walt Koontz, the cop-turned-security guard who suffers a stroke and must seek out singing lessons from Hoffman's character, Rusty, a part that Hoffman completely nails. It is difficult to imagine any other actors playing these roles so effectively. Descriptions of both actors' performances have been given in previous reviews, so I won't elaborate here.

The film also strikes the right balance between comedy and drama. It is neither completely a comedy nor completely a drama, it is both. It is emotionally moving while also extremely funny, but never at the same time. It would have been easy for the film to teeter too far onto either end of the spectrum, but it manages to stay in the middle and never overwhelms the viewer with a single emotion.

The title of the film is also interesting. "Flawless" serves both as the name of the drag queen competition in the film and as an ironic description of the two main characters. Although the drag queens strive to be "flawless," the irony is, of course, that no one in the film is flawless. The majority of the plot is concerned with two deeply flawed characters and their process of overcoming both their prejudices against each other and their own self loathing and self pity. The film does a good job of illuminating the concept of human frailty - the flawed nature of human beings and their constant attempts to rise above it.

Overall, an excellent film.

OFF THE WALL FILM DE NIRO AND HOFFMAN ARE TERRIFIC
This is NOT your average buddy movie. De Niro and Hoffman are truly genius in their portrayals of two very different men. De Niro plays the man's man security guard and Hoffman plays a not so pretty drag queen. Fate crosses their paths and wackiness ensues! Both leads should have been nominated for Oscars in this Comedy/Drama. The film features some great acting and a well written script that will have you laughing one minute and breaking your heart the next. There is a sub plot about a drug dealer looking for a large amount of money stolen from him that some viewers found awkward but, I thought it was an important part of the story and it brought these two complete opposites together despite their differences. A one of a kind film mixing drama, comedy and action
.....you'll either love it or you'll hate it! I LOVED IT!

OFF THE WALL FILM DE NIRO AND HOFFMAN ARE TERRIFIC
This is NOT your average buddy movie. De Niro and Hoffman are truly genius in their portrayals of two very different men. De Niro plays the man's man security guard and Hoffman plays a not so pretty drag queen. Fate crosses their paths and wackiness ensues! Both leads should have been nominated for Oscars in this Comedy/Drama. The film features some great acting and a well written script that will have you laughing one minute and breaking your heart the next. There is a sub plot about a drug dealer looking for a large amount of money stolen from him that some viewers found awkward but, I thought it was an important part of the story and it brought these two complete opposites together despite their differences. A one of a kind film mixing drama, comedy and action
.....you'll either love it or you'll hate it! I LOVED IT!