Woody Harrelson gets to flex his acting chops further as a preening professional companion to a host of Washington politicians' wives, moving further than ever before from the lovable country doofuses of his earlier films. Carter Page III is a man constantly overshadowed by the looming legends of his forefathers and taking refuge in the superficiality of his chosen milieu, where bon-mots serve as currency, until the murder of an acquaintance, the lover of one of the wives he ferries around social functions for his living, forces him to examine what values he actually has.
The setting of the glass cage that is D.C. high society might at first also seem a departure for Schrader, who as a screenwriter has repeatedly plumbed the depths of breakdown and despair, particularly through his work with Scorsese on Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and, most recently, Bringing out the Dead. But at heart the song remains the same: a man comes to realise that he stands alone and can either sink or swim. The Walker doesn't in truth have a great deal to add to this refrain, but gets by creditably enough on dialogue of superior intelligence and a heavy-calibre cast, including Lauren Bacall as an armour-plated society queen. Harrelson, meanwhile, just keeps getting better and better: southern gent pomposity, flamboyant campness and a quiet moral determination are all delivered without a false note.
6/10
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