It moves slowly in places, in others there are both good guys and bad guys shot and killed.
Some of the film is funny, some of it too "over the top" with the drag queens.
Money and crooks are involved, and Rusty wants to get enough money to have his operations and drug therapy to become the real woman that is inside him. Their relationship as neighbors goes from antagonism to mutual respect by the end of the film. As therapy he is advised to take singing lessons from Rusty (Phillip Seymour Hoffman). Walt (Robert De Niro) is a retired, decorated cop who has a mild stroke while responding to a disturbance in the hotel. Many of them are "drag queens" and they are having their annual contest for the "Flawless" female impersonator, thus the name of the movie. This film is about a bunch of strange characters living at and about a rundown hotel in NYC. If cross dressing and blatantly gay themes put you off, perhaps you should defy your inclinations and see it. In that respect it makes an important contribution. This is a good film that helps us understand that the remedy for the fear wrought of our differences is understanding, not hatred. Wilson Jermaine Heredia, who played Cha-Cha, the winner of the Flawless contest, was a much more convincing queen. Hoffman brought a lot of emotional energy to his part, and his imitation of a drag queen was passable, though somewhat forced and unnatural. The combination of his struggles to do the simplest of tasks and the obvious look of anguish and frustration on his face was poignant and affecting.
Not only was he excellent in the emotional portrayal of a man having to deal with a sudden debilitating stroke, but he was very realistic in his portrayal of the physical disability itself. Schumacher would have been better to concentrate on the relationship between Walter and Rusty rather than digressing so frequently into Rusty's relationships with his friends. Unfortunately, the story meanders too often to irrelevant characters and scenes that don't really contribute much (like the Gay Republicans). This was an excellent character study of both main characters, giving a lot of insight into the motivations and lives of each. Ultimately, he is able to look past his prejudices to find the human elements that make him and Rusty not so different after all. It seems that the people he hates treat him a lot better than the people he thought he loved. Walter learns through his disability who his friends really are, and who they are not. This is a story about hatred, bigotry and reconciliation. His story, though peculiar, makes some powerful points. This film was written and directed by Joel Schumacher. This is an unlikely pairing because Walter is a belligerent homophobe. So he decides to ask his neighbor Rusty (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who is a female impersonator, to give him singing lessons. In an effort to regain some of his speech capabilities it is recommended to him that he take singing lessons. ∟lawless' is an offbeat story about Walter Koontz (Robert De Niro) an ex-cop who suffers a stroke and loses partial ability to speak. Title (Brazil): `Ninguém É Perfeito' (`Nobody is Perfect') The story is about respect, specially for the minorities, showing that nobody is flawless. The dialogs between Robert De Niro and Philip Seymour Hoffman are excellent. But indeed it is a very good film, with a touching story.
This movie was a great surprise for me: I did not expected much, since drama it is not the specialty of Joel Schumacher. Meanwhile, the bandits look for the missing stolen money. The initial lack of respect between Walt and Rusty becomes a friendship in the end of the story. Along his treatment, his doctor suggests singing classes with Rusty to improve his speech. However, he has a stroke and becomes half paralyzed. Listening to the shots, Walt gets his gun and chases the murderers. One day, the money of a powerful boss of a gang in the neighborhood is stolen and the criminals chase the thief and kill his girlfriend and him in the building where Walt lives. Rusty Zimmerman (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is a drag queen, neighbor of Walt, who aims to make a surgery for changing his sex. Walt Koontz (Robert De Niro) is a highly honored retired policeman, living in a community with many gays.