Flawless (1999 film)
| Flawless | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Joel Schumacher |
| Produced by | Joel Schumacher Jane Rosenthal Robert De Niro (uncredited) Neil Machlis |
| Written by | Joel Schumacher |
| Starring | Robert De Niro Philip Seymour Hoffman Barry Miller Chris Bauer Wilson Jermaine Heredia Daphne Rubin-Vega |
| Music by | Bruce Roberts |
| Cinematography | Declan Quinn |
| Edited by | Mark Stevens |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
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Release date
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Running time
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112 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $15 million |
| Box office | $4,488,529 |
Flawless is a 1999 crime comedy-drama film that stars Robert De Niro and Philip Seymour Hoffman. It was directed by Joel Schumacher, who also wrote the screenplay. Other cast members include Daphne Rubin-Vega and Wilson Jermaine Heredia.
Walter Koontz (Robert De Niro) is a highly decorated "local hero" officer of the New York police department who lives in a downtown apartment complex. Despite his locale and rampant run of drag queens in his building, he tends to keep to himself and still lives a life involved with lovely women, dancing and dining. One night, he hears gunshots upstairs, and while ascending to help suffers a stroke. He awakens with the right side of his body paralyzed resulting in poor speech and posture, and giving him an unrecoverable limp that requires him to use a cane to get around.
He suffers a massive blow to his ego, and Walter becomes ashamed to be seen in public in such a fashion. Rusty (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is one of Walter's drag queen neighbors, and the two are at-odds constantly due to their differing lifestyles. Rusty has a desire to undergo a transsexual operation, but lacks the money to do so. When Walter comes to Rusty to use his musical talents for voice lessons to overcome his impediment, the pair while at first argumentative and uncomfortable with the other begin to become friends. Walter begins to gain confidence and make strides to return to a normal life. However, their friendship is marred when Rusty shows Walter a stash of money, hidden in the body of his dress making mannequin, which is enough to pay for his operation. When Walter inquires how Rusty got the money, Rusty says he stole it from a drug pusher, who was also responsible for the attack the night Walter had his stroke. Outraged by this, Walter and Rusty part ways angrily.
One night, after returning from a drag beauty contest called "Flawless", Rusty is accosted by the criminals who had crept into his apartment to find the stolen money. Walter hears the commotion and runs up to save Rusty's life. Rusty locks himself in the bedroom, and when Walter comes in on them, the criminals turn their attention on him, prompting Rusty to return the favor. In the fight, Walter is shot by the criminals, but the pair are able to subdue them. While boarding an ambulance with Walter, Rusty gives the paramedics the stolen cash to ensure that Walter is okay. The pair again rekindle their friendship, setting their personal differences aside.
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