robert benton has assembled a stellar , mature cast for his latest feature , twilight , a film noir mystery set amid the fading stars of hollywood .
paul newman stars as retired detective harry ross .
harry has spent the last couple of years doing odd jobs for jack and catherine ames ( gene hackman and susan sarandon ) , a pair of married actors who have fallen from the limelight .
when jack sends him on a routine delivery job , however , the old instincts kick in .
soon , harry is wading through a mystery where friendships and lives are on the line , and he no longer knows who to trust .
there are plenty of familiar faces throughout twilight , in addition to newman , hackman and sarandon .
james garner plays raymond hope , a former cop and one of harry 's best friends .
stockard channing plays verna , harry 's former partner , and possibly a former love interest .
reese witherspoon is mel , the distrustful daughter of the ames ' , and liev schrieber is her scuzzy boyfriend .
giancarlo esposito appears as harry 's bumbling detective protigi , and john spencer is a suspicious police captain .
with a cast like that , it 's almost worth watching twilight just to stargaze .
luckily , there 's more to the film than some sort of actor 's recognition ceremony .
twilight has a solid film noir - ish plot .
it may not have as many twists and turns as some of the classics , but it has much more than a lot of what passes for film these days .
the major cast members all deliver strong performances , as can be expected of their caliber .
however , none of them have that little extra oomph which would make them memorable .
the supporting cast is enjoyable , if a little underdrawn .
stockard channing 's character , in particular , is a cipher .
there 's more to her character than the film takes the time to describe .
it 's a minor , but irritating , flaw .
with a solid cast , and a good plot
, there 's a lot to recommend about twilight .
it 's biggest flaw is actually its short running time .
at a slim 94 minutes , there 's a lot of stuff that 's packed into an awfully small package .
still , the chance to see newman , sarandon and hackman working together is worth a cramp or two .
there 's more to the film than some sort of actor 's recognition ceremony it 's almost worth watching twilight just to stargaze a solid cast has a solid film noir - ish plot the supporting cast is enjoyable a lot to recommend a stellar , mature cast a good plot is worth a cramp or two