With: Paul Newman, Gene Hackman, Susan Sarandon, James Garner, Stockard Channing, Reese Witherspoon
Plot: Newman plays an aging private eye with close ties to a faded actor couple (Hackman, Sarandon). He is caught up in a murder plot when asked to deliver some blackmail money.
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A basic noir (and I've hardly seen any, so that must mean it's particularly basic), but very effective and polished. LA, as captured here, is a sun-faded city of past glory and shadows, its characters fitting so thematically into place within it. Nothing special plot wise, but what gives this the edge is the themes implied by the title, this is a story about looking back on your achievements and sins, all the characters being old, even dying. Through this it achieves a very melancholy tone, and the importance (or disregard) with which its characters hold morality in makes for a simple plot with surprising depth. A little corny maybe, and often formulaic, but a treat for those who enjoy the genre.
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