They hand us the whole caboodle in the early scenes of “The Walker.” A group of
prominent, middle-aged Washington women have spent a bucket of money on their
hair and clothes for a night out over canasta and gossip. They are Natalie van
Miter (Lauren Bacall), Lyn Lockner (Kristin Scott Thomas), and Abigail Delorean
(Lily Tomlin). Sitting in with them is Carter Page III, a southern boy living in
the shadow of his father’s reputation (for a notable role in the Watergate
investigation). He dabbles in real estate and has great amounts of flex time to
escort these ladies to the social functions or assignations of their choice. He
is their walker.
These women
love the A-level social life of the nation’s capital and the gossip that is its
currency. They want to attend galas and benefits on the arm of a good looking
man who knows how to dress and make cosmopolitan small talk without ever making
an embarrassing gaffe. Carter is their guy.
Though these
women are gaining on the great beyond, they are fit – gym machine fit, personal
trainer fit – the kind of fitness that is carved from a no exceptions personal
discipline. Fitness is the first weapon in the competition to be seen. They
cover their angular frames in several thousand dollars worth of accessories and
an elegant, simple, dress that flows perfectly toward expensive spiked heels.
They are camera ready.
A night of
canasta with this group would not a movie make, so Mr. Schrader throws in a
murder – of the lover of Lynn Lockner. Carter chauffeurs Ms. Lockner to the
apartment of lobbyist Robbie Kononsberg where Lockner discovers the blood soaked
body of her paramour. She then asks poor old Carter to step in to protect all
the reputations involved. He does just that and digs himself deeper and deeper
into a cesspool of betrayal. Because the players in the murder plot are
thoroughly boring, the fun of watching the smarmy Washington social game
evaporates.
Woody
Harrelson is surprisingly good as Carter. Watch especially for the scene when he
reveals his own preparations for an evening out as a walker. Lily Tomlin,
Kristin Scott Thomas and Lauren Bacall do a fine job of building stone cold
women. There is good fun to be had in watching them create the shallow social
pool in which they swim with the politicians they have married, but when the
murder is thrown in, the whole things becomes silly.
The fact that
we lose track of the peripheral characters even in a murder yarn is a measure of
the weakness of the sub plot that was designed to be the central point of the
movie. The point of this movie is the women and their friend the walker; the
murder is irrelevant. As a comment on a social sub-culture, “The Walker” is at
times funny and revealing of urban social competition. As a story, it sinks like
a stone.
Copyright (c) Illusion