Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (film)

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Clint Eastwood
Produced by Clint Eastwood
Screenplay by John Lee Hancock
Based on Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil 
by John Berendt
Starring Kevin Spacey
John Cusack
Music by Lennie Niehaus
Cinematography Jack N. Green
Edited by Joel Cox
Production
company
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release dates
  • November 21, 1997
Running time
 155 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
French
Budget $30 million[2]
Box office $25.1 million[3]

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is a 1997 American crime drama film directed by Clint Eastwood, and an adaptation of the book of the same name by John Berendt, which was based on real-life 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.

Several changes were made in adapting the film from the novel. Many of the more colorful characters were eliminated or made 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 Eastwood. 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.

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.

Cast

Production

Principal photography began in spring 1997, and was shot in Savannah, Georgia.[4] 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.

Reception

Reviews of the film were mixed, with a score of 47% on Rotten Tomatoes. Casting in the film was praised, however, for Spacey's likeness to Williams.

The film was a box office bomb, grossing $25.1 million[3] to an estimated $30 million budget.[2]

Spacey won the best supporting actor award from the Society of Texas Film Critics.

Soundtrack

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Soundtrack album by Various Artists
Released November 18, 1997
Length 58:04
Label Warner Bros.
Producer Ernie Altschuler
Soundtrack
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic link

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.

No. TitleWriter(s)Performer Length
1. "Skylark"  Hoagy Carmichael, Johnny Mercerk.d. lang 3:46
2. "Too Marvelous for Words"  Richard Whiting, MercerJoe Williams 3:40
3. "Autumn Leaves"  Joseph Kosma, Jacques Prévert, MercerPaula Cole 7:24
4. "Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear to Tread)"  Rube Bloom, MercerRosemary Clooney 4:10
5. "Dream"  MercerBrad Mehldau 5:10
6. "Days of Wine and Roses"  Henry Mancini, MercerCassandra Wilson 4:47
7. "That Old Black Magic"  Harold Arlen, MercerKevin Spacey 3:33
8. "Come Rain or Come Shine"  Arlen, MercerAlison Eastwood 4:32
9. "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive"  Arlen, MercerClint Eastwood 3:35
10. "This Time the Dream's on Me"  Arlen, MercerAlison Krauss 3:46
11. "Laura"  David Raksin, MercerKevin Mahogany 4:49
12. "Midnight Sun"  Lionel Hampton, Sonny Burke, MercerDiana Krall 4:01
13. "I'm an Old Cowhand (From the Rio Grande)"  MercerJoshua Redman 4:59
14. "I Wanna Be Around"  Sadie Vimmerstedt, MercerTony Bennett 2:10

See also

References

  1. ↑ "MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL (15)". British Board of Film Classification. January 22, 1998. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Hughes, p.149
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil at Box Office Mojo
  4. ↑ Hughes, p.148

External links