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Walker, The
THINKFilm


7.5

based on 16 reviews
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based on 4 votes
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FILM:

Internet Movie Database

MPAA RATING: R for language, some violent material and nude images

Starring Woody Harrelson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Lily Tomlin, Lauren Bacall, Willem Dafoe, Ned Beatty, Moritz Bleibtreu, and Mary Beth Hurt

A contemporary drama set in Washington, DC, The Walker centers around Carter Page (Harrelson), a well-heeled and popular socialite who serves as confidant, companion, and card partner to some of the capital's leading ladies. These pampered women are married to the most powerful men in America, and when their husbands are too busy running the country to attend to their wives, the wives turn to their "gay best friend," Carter, for warmth, wit, and wisdom. Carter's loyalty is tested when his dearest friend (Scott Thomas) finds herself on the brink of a scandal that could destroy her reputation and her husband's career. Offering to cover for her, Carter suppresses incriminating evidence, only to find himself the chief suspect in a criminal investigation. Suddenly, this well-connected man-about-town is a pariah, hounded by the police and forced to find the true culprit and clear his name. More importantly, he must reexamine whether it is important to be accepted by a society based on betrayal, hypocrisy, and corruption. A tale of moral redemption that takes the form of a mystery-thriller, The Walker is the third part of Schrader's "lonely man" trilogy, which began with American Gigolo (1980) and also includes Light Sleeper (1992). (THINKFilm)

GENRE(S):	Drama
WRITTEN BY:	Paul Schrader
DIRECTED BY:	Paul Schrader
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: May 27, 2008 Theatrical: December 7, 2007
RUNNING TIME:	108 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA / UK

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

ReelViews James Berardinelli

This is not Schrader's finest work. The script is not tight, the ending disappoints, and there's a little too much drawn from "American Gigolo." But there are some great one-liners, compelling actors, and well-developed characters.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

A quietly enthralling film because it contains the murder and the investigation within Carter's smooth calm.

San Francisco Chronicle G. Allen Johnson

Has a wicked sense of humor.

Variety Leslie Felperin

Even if this isn't Schrader's best, it's hardly his worst.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Though ultimately flawed, the film's depiction of velvet-gloved cruelty and matter-of-fact betrayal is surprisingly potent, and it's pure pleasure to watch Bacall prowling the corridors of power, tossing her golden mane and tossing off world-weary observations in a voice pitched somewhere between a purr and a growl.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Harrelson's charming flamboyance - seen to great effect in "No Country for Old Men" - is a great fit for Carter, who carries no small amount of self-loathing under his carefully coifed toupee.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Schrader's main interest is not in the mystery, per se, but in the political intrigue of incestuous Washington, where conflicts of interest are the norm and morality is indeed relative. The points are well-taken, but Harrelson's performance often gets in their way.

Village Voice J. Hoberman

This is a serious movie and, gliding around the center of power, a stylish one. But, like its protagonist, The Walker is unable to close the deal.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

While it can be labeled a thriller or a murder mystery, the film is talky, unhurried, contains little action and shows more interest in how characters think and behave than in its plot.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

The brittle, very ''written'' catty quips meant to characterize Washington hypocrisy sound perfunctory; the story of an aging, self-hating homosexual who goes home alone to his lacquered town house feels ancient as well as uncomfortable for the writer-director. (Harrelson seems both game and ill at ease.)

The New York Times Stephen Holden

By the end of The Walker a movie that begins as a dazzling round of charades has deteriorated into a plodding game of Clue.

Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano

The whole thing feels fusty and forced.

Portland Oregonian Marc Mohan

While it's hard to dismiss his intention or effort, Harrelson's one-note performance sinks the film.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

The main compensation is Harrelson's well-judged and finely shaded performance; the secondary ones are the ladies he hangs out with -- Lauren Bacall, Lily Tomlin, and Kristin Scott Thomas. But the rest of this mainly drifts.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak

A mystery that isn't mysterious, a thriller that's barely thrilling.

Austin Chronicle Josh Rosenblatt

Guilty of the most mortal of all movie sins: It's dull.

The average user rating for this movie is 7.5 (out of 10) based on 4 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Arnold P. gave it a6:
Considering all of the talent that went into making this film it was flat. Woody channeled his best Truman Capote imitation and did a good job. He showed acting chops and juxtaposed with his great performance in "No Country for Old Men", impressed me.The gay man he was portraying seemed a hackneyed throwback to some character out of the fifties.The grand ladies all were fun to watch, waltzing through their roles. The Washington scene had some sizzling dialogue, but it could have been so much better the way "Michael Clayton" sizzled.

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Walker, The THINKFilm

Walker, The
THINKFilm