Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil (film) - Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil Movie

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is a 1997 American crime drama film directed by Clint Eastwood, and an adaptation of the eponymous 1994 non-fiction work by John Berendt, which was based on events that took place in Savannah, Georgia in the 1980s. The film features Kevin Spacey as Jim Williams, a man on trial for murder, and John Cusack as John Kelso, a writer covering the case.

Plot

This panoramic tale of Savannah's eccentricities focuses on a murder and the subsequent trial of Jim Williams (Kevin Spacey): self-made man, art collector, antiques dealer, bon vivant, and semi-closeted homosexual. John Kelso (John Cusack), a magazine reporter, finds himself in Savannah amid the beautiful architecture and odd doings to write a feature on one of Williams' famous Christmas parties.

He is intrigued by Williams from the start, but his curiosity is piqued when he meets Jim's violent, young, sexy lover Billy (Jude Law). Later that night, Billy is dead, and Kelso stays on to cover the murder trial. Along the way he encounters the irrepressible Lady Chablis, a drag queen comedian; Sonny Seiler, lawyer to Williams, whose famous dog "Uga IV" is the official mascot of the Georgia Bulldogs, an odd man who keeps flies attached to mini leashes on his lapels and threatens daily to poison the water supply; the Married Ladies Card Club; and Minerva, a spiritualist.

Between being Jim's buddy, cuddling up to a torch singer, meeting every eccentric in Savannah, participating in midnight graveyard rituals, and helping solve the mysteries surrounding Billy's murder, Kelso has his hands full. The judge and jury later find Williams not guilty, much to the pleasure of Kelso and the witnesses. Williams congratulates Kelso on proving his innocence.

A week later, Williams suffers a heart attack and dies, after he had been consumed by his own guilt for killing Billy, who was then revealed to have had an affair with another man. Kelso attends the funeral and realizes that not all people are innocent.

Cast

Production

Several changes were made in adapting the film from the book. Many of the more colorful characters were eliminated or combined into composite characters. The writer, played by Cusack, was based upon Berendt but was given a love interest not featured in the book, played by Eastwood's daughter, Alison. The multiple Williams trials were combined into one on-screen trial. Jim Williams' real life attorney Sonny Seiler appears in the movie in the role of Judge White, the presiding judge of the trial.

Principal photography began in spring 1997 and was shot in Savannah, Georgia. The film featured a cameo by Uga V, the English bulldog live mascot of the University of Georgia, playing his father, Uga IV. The Uga mascots live in Savannah between football games. Advertising for the film became a source of controversy when Warner Bros. used elements of Jack Leigh's famous photograph in its movie posters without his permission.

Soundtrack

Integral to the film was the soundtrack, which was released in 1997. It is dedicated to the music of Johnny Mercer, a Savannah native. The CD includes versions of songs heard in the film.

Reception

The film failed to make its budget back, only grossing $25.1 million to an estimated $30 million budget. It also received mixed reviews, with a 'rotten' score of 48% on review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes. Its casting was praised, however, for Spacey's likeness to Williams. Spacey then won the best supporting actor award from the Society of Texas Film Critics.