Review of Flawless (2007) by Daniel A — 18 Dec 2010

It feels at least ten years out of date, and that was back in 1999, but Flawless is worth a look purely to see a young Philip Seymour Hoffman nail his drag queen persona in a truly head-turning performance.

Flawless sees Robert DeNiro play a straight laced man who suffers a debilitating stroke, however when his doctor recommends he take singing lessons as a form of speech therapy, he unwillingly turns to his flamboyant neighbour, played by Hoffman, and despite their differences the pair become firm friends.

The biggest problem with this film is that it feels like the product of a time when drag queens were much more of a novelty. By 1999 we had already seen an endless slew of drag films throughout the nineties (The Birdcage, To Wong Foo... and the brilliant Priscilla, Queen of the Desert to name a few). So by the time Flawless rocked up in 1999, the overly serious tone and stereotypical gay representations fail to stand up next to such a well-written and witty film as Priscilla.

Granted Hoffman's performance as Rusty is brilliant. He completely commits to the character and conceals a number of the screenplay's flaws with his stupendous scenery chomping. Opposite him DeNiro is good but noticeably less committed. His stroke-victim routine is effective but also carries an air of laziness that sees him completely upstaged by Hoffman. And together the pair have enough chemistry to see them through but ultimately fall short of making Flawless particularly memorable.

Furthermore director Joel Schumacher's storytelling is sadly flawed. The heartwarming central relationship is overshadowed by a distinctly unnecessary subplot involving drugs and violence, giving the film an artificial drama that would have been better off forgotten. Thus Flawless is a pretty average unlikely-friendship drama that's rescued from the bargain bin only by the strength of its leads, most notably Hoffman who really gives it his all.