New Films

Woody Harrelson escorts Lauren Bacall and Kristin Scott Thomas down the red carpet in this murder mystery thriller from Paul Schrader

Returning to some of its writer-director’s familiar obsessions The Walker finds Paul Schrader on fine form. Woody Harrelson takes the eponymous role as Carter Page III, a ‘walker’ in Washington DC who spends his evenings escorting the city’s aging dames to social events their husbands are too busy to attend.

A gossipy, bitchy queen from a renowned Virginia family, Carter finally finds a backbone when his friend Lynn (Scott Thomas), the wife of a liberal senator, is implicated in the murder of her secret lover. Refusing to name names to the ambitious District Attorney (Hope) assigned to the case, Carter covers up Lynn’s presence at the murder scene. Then pays the price as he’s caught between disloyalty and dishonesty.

An arid companion piece to Schrader’s American Gigolo (1980), The Walker lets that film’s repressed homosexuality out of the closet while offering an askance commentary on political corruption in Washington. Raising his game to play a complex, highly-unsympathetic role, Harrelson excels, even making us care about the fate of his snippy, snide protagonist (no mean feat). It’s a performance with just a hint of Marlon Brando about it - something that’s only enhanced by Harrelson’s dodgy dentures - and it allows him to more than hold his own among the impressive supporting cast of grande dame femmes: Scott Thomas, Lily Tomlin and Lauren Bacall.

Schrader sees Harrelson’s morally ambiguous character as another of his iconic tortured souls: a fantastic montage in Carter’s boudoir recalls the anal perfectionism of American Gigolo’s Julian Kaye, as Carter shows us drawers of folded ties, stacks of cashmere pullovers and neatly arranged cufflinks. The coup de grace is the gentle, strangely touching removal of his toupee.

It brilliantly alerts us to this character’s Achilles heel; as he says himself: “I’m not naïve, I’m superficial”. Like Julian Kaye, Taxi Driver’s Travis Bickle or John LeTour (played by Willem Dafoe) in Light Sleeper, Carter is another lonely man who can only truly find himself when murder spins his life out of control. Morality, in Schrader’s world, is only discoverable under duress.

Naturally, Carter is forced to pay for his loyalty. He’s the victim of a vicious witch-hunt. His former friends start a whispering campaign against him. His anti-war artist boyfriend (Bleibtreu) - who makes imposing, agit-prop prints inspired by Abu Grahib - is beaten up. Schrader lays on the threat with menace, exposing America’s inexorable drift rightward since 9/11. The film’s most chilling line is delivered to Carter with casual aggression by Ned Beatty’s Republican senator: “You’re on the wrong side of history. People don’t want your lifestyle.”

Undoubtedly, this is Schrader’s response to the Bush era and the festering sore of Iraq. Yet the film is slightly too oblique. In trying to evoke memories of Watergate (famously, Carter’s father played a part in the hearings), Schrader is making a grander historical point, but it makes the film feel slightly behind the times. Despite this, the filmmakers’ loyal fans will be content. This is a strong and extremely welcome comeback after the hellfire debacle of The Exorcist prequel.

Verdict
A return to form and another entry in Schrader’s ‘God’s Lonely Man’ saga, this murder mystery is hard not to be intrigued by. Harrelson’s brilliant performance is enough to sell it alone.

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