Walker, The DVD Review

"The Walker" reviews

DVD

The Walker

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2008-01-11 15:50:14

Provider

MRIB

DVD Review

The Walker came and went during its stint on the big screen with hardly any fuss. It's not hard to see why, it lacks the fizz of big budget drama with it's slow paced and is not quirky enough to rival the indie darling/Sundance crowd (ala The Little Miss Sunshine).

This is a shame. Paul Schrader's tale of a Washington 'walker' (the term describes predominately gay men who accompany socialites to glitzy events when their husbands can't be there) involved in a murder is a gem.

Woody Harrelson is a delight as the film's eponymous character. Completely cast against type (Schrader reveals in the DVD extras that even he would never have thought of him for the role) and you can tell he has a ball playing the contradictory Carter Page III. Flamboyant when with his socialite girls, filled with self loathing when alone and only surrounding himself with company to keep his sadness at bay, he hides under a mask of charming smiles and twinkling eyes.

Like Schrader's American Gigolo, Walker deals with the theme of superficiality, and as Gigolo did it pushes the murder aspect firmly into the background, preferring to focus on the shallow life people lead. As Carter says, "I'm shallow, not naive."

There's even a neat little scene, which is a nod to the start of the 1980 Richard Gere movie that shows Carter getting undressed before ending with a memorable shot that turns the scene on its head (literally!).

DVD extras include an hour long Q and A with Schrader talking intelligently about the hardship of making movies like this. For instance, who would have known that the interior scenes were filmed in the Isle of Man for tax breaks?

Schrader continues to be an important auteur working on the fringes of the industry.

Copyright © MRIB 2008.