Flawless
Encyclopedia
Flawless is a 1999 crime
Crime film
Crime films are films which focus on the lives of criminals. The stylistic approach to a crime film varies from realistic portrayals of real-life criminal figures, to the far-fetched evil doings of imaginary arch-villains. Criminal acts are almost always glorified in these movies.- Plays and films...

 comedy-drama film
Comedy-drama
Comedy-drama is a genre of theatre, film and television programs which combines humorous and serious content.-Theatre:Traditional western theatre, beginning with the ancient Greeks, was divided into comedy and tragedy...

 that stars Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...

 and Philip Seymour Hoffman
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Philip Seymour Hoffman is an American actor and director. Hoffman began acting in television in 1991, and the following year started to appear in films...

.

Flawless was directed by Joel Schumacher
Joel Schumacher
Joel T. Schumacher is an American film director, screenwriter and producer.-Early life:Schumacher was born in New York City, the son of Marian and Francis Schumacher. His mother was a Swedish Jew, and his father was a Baptist from Knoxville, Tennessee, who died when Joel was four years old...

, who also wrote the screenplay. Other cast members includes Daphne Rubin-Vega
Daphne Rubin-Vega
Daphne Rubin-Vega is a dancer, singer, and actress. She is best known for originating the role of Mimi Marquez in the Broadway musical Rent, and the role of Lucy, in the Off-Broadway play Jack Goes Boating.-Biography:Rubin-Vega was born in Panama City, Panama, the daughter of Daphine Vega, a...

 and Wilson Jermaine Heredia
Wilson Jermaine Heredia
Wilson Jermaine Heredia is an American actor best known for his portrayal of Angel Dumott Schunard in the Broadway musical Rent, for which he won the Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for Best Featured Actor in a musical...

, both of whom starred (as Mimi and Angel, respectively) in the original production of the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 Musical Rent
Rent (musical)
Rent is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La bohème...

.

Plot

Walter Koontz (Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...

) is a highly decorated "local hero" officer of the New York police department who lives in a downtown apartment complex. Despite his locale and rampant run of drag queen
Drag queen
A drag queen is a man who dresses, and usually acts, like a caricature woman often for the purpose of entertaining. There are many kinds of drag artists and they vary greatly, from professionals who have starred in films to people who just try it once. Drag queens also vary by class and culture and...

s in his building he tends to keep to himself and still live a life lavished in lovely women, dancing and dining. One night, he hears gunshots upstairs, and while ascending to help suffers a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...

. He awakens with the right side of his body paralyzed resulting in poor speech and posture, giving him an unrecoverable limp requiring him to use a cane to get around.

He suffers a massive blow to his ego, and Walter becomes ashamed to be seen in public in such a fashion. Rusty (Philip Seymour Hoffman
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Philip Seymour Hoffman is an American actor and director. Hoffman began acting in television in 1991, and the following year started to appear in films...

) is one of Walter's drag queen neighbors and the two are at-odds constantly due to their differing lifestyles. Rusty has a desire to undergo a transsexual operation, but lacks the money to do so. When Walter comes to Rusty to use his musical talents for voice lessons to overcome his impediment, the pair while at first argumentative and uncomfortable with the other begin to become friends. Walter begins to gain confidence and make strides to return to a normal life. However their friendship is marred when Rusty shows Walter a stash of money, hidden in the body of his dress making mannequin, which is enough to pay for his operation. When Walter inquires how Rusty got the money, Rusty says he stole it from a drug pusher, who was also responsible for the attack the night Walter had his stroke. Outraged by this, Walter and Rusty part ways angrily.

One night, after returning from a drag beauty contest called "Flawless" Rusty is accosted by the criminals who had crept into his apartment to find the stolen money. Walter hears the commotion and runs up to save Rusty's life. Rusty locks himself in the bedroom, and when Walter comes in on them, the criminals turn their attention on him, prompting Rusty to return the favor. In the fight, Walter is shot by the criminals, but the pair are able to subdue them. While boarding an ambulance with Walter, Rusty gives the paramedics the stolen cash to ensure that Walter is okay. The pair again rekindle their friendship, setting their personal differences aside.

Cast

  • Robert De Niro
    Robert De Niro
    Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...

     as Walter Koontz
  • Philip Seymour Hoffman
    Philip Seymour Hoffman
    Philip Seymour Hoffman is an American actor and director. Hoffman began acting in television in 1991, and the following year started to appear in films...

     as Rusty
  • Barry Miller
    Barry Miller (actor)
    Barry L. Miller is an American actor. He won Broadway's 1985 Tony Award as Best Actor for his performance as 'Arnold Epstein' in Biloxi Blues....

     as Leonard Wilcox
  • Chris Bauer
    Chris Bauer
    Mark Christopher "Chris" Bauer is an American film and television actor.-Early life:Bauer was born in Los Angeles, California and attended high school at Miramonte High School in Orinda, California. He played on Miramonte Championship football team his senior year, 1984...

     as Jacko
  • Wilson Jermaine Heredia
    Wilson Jermaine Heredia
    Wilson Jermaine Heredia is an American actor best known for his portrayal of Angel Dumott Schunard in the Broadway musical Rent, for which he won the Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for Best Featured Actor in a musical...

     as Cha-Cha
  • Daphne Rubin-Vega
    Daphne Rubin-Vega
    Daphne Rubin-Vega is a dancer, singer, and actress. She is best known for originating the role of Mimi Marquez in the Broadway musical Rent, and the role of Lucy, in the Off-Broadway play Jack Goes Boating.-Biography:Rubin-Vega was born in Panama City, Panama, the daughter of Daphine Vega, a...

     as Tia
  • Rory Cochrane
    Rory Cochrane
    Rory Cochrane is an American actor. He is known for playing Ron Slater in Dazed and Confused, Lucas in Empire Records, and Tim Speedle in CSI: Miami.-Early life:...

     as Pogo
  • Jude Ciccolella
    Jude Ciccolella
    Richard Jude Ciccolella , better known as Jude Ciccolella, is an American character actor.-Biography:Ciccolella graduated from Brown University, class of 1969 where he acted in student productions. He studied at Temple University with a Master of Fine Arts degree in theatre...

     as Detective Noonan
  • Mina Bern
    Mina Bern
    Mina Bern was a Polish-born American actress. She was a star of the Yiddish theater.-Biography:Mina Bern was born in Bielsk Podlaski. Her theatrical debut was in Bialystock under the director Yehuda Greenhoyz...

     as Mrs. Spivak
  • Penny Balfour
    Penny Balfour
    -Selected filmography:* Flawless , as Cristal* Sidewalks of New York , as Young Hooker* Drop Back Ten , as Amanda Bennett* Ash Wednesday , as Callie* Arthur and the Minimoys , Arthur's Mother...

     as Cristal
  • Victor Rasuk
    Victor Rasuk
    Victor Rasuk is an American actor.Rasuk was born in Harlem, New York to Dominican parents. He has one brother, Silvestre, with whom he starred in Raising Victor Vargas....

     (uncredited) as Neighborhood boy

Soundtrack

  1. "Planet Love
    Planet Love
    "Planet Love" is a song by Taylor Dayne, which was the leading single from the MGM motion picture soundtrack for the 1999 film Flawless, starring Robert De Niro and Philip Seymour Hoffman. It was released on March 21, 2000....

    " – Taylor Dayne
    Taylor Dayne
    Taylor Dayne was born Leslie Wunderman on March 7, 1962 before later adopting her current stage name. She is an American pop vocalist, songwriter, and dance artist. Overall, she has had eighteen individual hit songs reach the top ten in Billboard magazine...

      (Allee Willis; Bruce Roberts)
  2. "Half-Breed
    Half-Breed (song)
    "Half-Breed" is a song recorded by Cher and released as a single in 1973. On October 6, 1973, it became Cher's second U.S. number one hit as a solo artist, similarly becoming her second solo single to hit the top spot in Canada on the same date....

    " – Cher
    Cher
    Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...

     (Al Capps; Mary Dean)
  3. "Lady Marmalade
    Lady Marmalade
    "Lady Marmalade" was also covered by Italian pop star Sabrina. It was released in 1987 as the album's second single by Baby Records. In some countries, including France and the Netherlands, the song was known as "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi? " and was released in 1988.-Track listings:7" maxi#...

    " (Live) – Patti LaBelle
    Patti LaBelle
    Patricia Louise Holte-Edwards , better known under the stage name, Patti LaBelle, is a Grammy Award winning American singer, author and actress who has spent over 50 years in the music industry...

     (Bob Crewe; Kenny Nolan)
  4. "When the Money's Gone
    When the Money's Gone
    "When the Money's Gone" is the last North American single by American singer-actress Cher from her twenty-fifth studio album, Living Proof. It was released in 2003 by Warner Bros, and WEA. The song was written by Bruce Roberts and Donna Weiss....

    " – Bruce Roberts
    Bruce Roberts (singer)
    Bruce Roberts is a singer and songwriter. In 1995 he released the album Intimacy which featured musical and vocal contributions by many notable artists...

     (Bruce Roberts; Donna Weiss)
  5. "G.A.Y." – Geri Halliwell
    Geri Halliwell
    Geraldine Estelle "Geri" Halliwell is an English pop singer-songwriter, author and actress. After coming to international prominence in the late 1990s as Ginger Spice, a member of the girl group the Spice Girls, Halliwell launched her solo career in 1998 and released her album Schizophonic...

     (Geri Halliwell
    Geri Halliwell
    Geraldine Estelle "Geri" Halliwell is an English pop singer-songwriter, author and actress. After coming to international prominence in the late 1990s as Ginger Spice, a member of the girl group the Spice Girls, Halliwell launched her solo career in 1998 and released her album Schizophonic...

    ; Watkins; Wilson)
  6. "When Will You Learn" – Boy George
    Boy George
    Boy George is a British singer-songwriter who was part of the English New Romantic movement which emerged in the early 1980s. He helped give androgyny an international stage with the success of Culture Club during the 1980s. His music is often classified as blue-eyed soul, which is influenced by...

     (G. O'Dowd; John Themis; Mike Koglin)
  7. "La Chica Marita" – Marcus Schenkenberg (J. Beauvoir; T. Catania)
  8. "Turn Me Over" – Wonderbox (Monica Murphy)
  9. "Lady Marmalade" – All Saints (Bob Crewe; Kenny Nolan)
  10. "Sidewalk Talk
    Sidewalk Talk
    "Sidewalk Talk" is a single by American record producer John "Jellybean" Benitez, released in 1984 by EMI Records . The song was originally written by Madonna during the beginning of her career and given to Jellybean in 1985, as he was a collaborator with her during this time.-Song information:The...

    " – Madonna
    Madonna (entertainer)
    Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...

     & John Benitez
    John Benitez
    John Benitez, better known as "Jellybean Benitez" is an American drummer, guitarist, songwriter, DJ, remixer and music producer of Puerto Rican descent...

     (Madonna
    Madonna (entertainer)
    Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...

    )
  11. "Can't Stop Love" – Soul Solution (Bobby Guy; Ernie Lake)
  12. "Give It to Me" – Drama Kidz (Danny Sullivan; E. Holterhoff; Jellybean)
  13. "The Name Game" – Shirley Ellis (Lincoln Chase; Shirley Ellis)
  14. "Whenever You Fall" – Taylor Dayne
    Taylor Dayne
    Taylor Dayne was born Leslie Wunderman on March 7, 1962 before later adopting her current stage name. She is an American pop vocalist, songwriter, and dance artist. Overall, she has had eighteen individual hit songs reach the top ten in Billboard magazine...

    (Taylor Dayne; B.G. Craziose; Ernie Lake; Janice Robinson)
  15. "The Neighborhood" – Bruce Roberts; Gohl; Sarah McLachlan (Bruce Roberts)
  16. "Tia's Tango" – Bruce Roberts; Gohl; Sarah McLachlan (Bruce Roberts)
  17. "Luciano" – Bruce Roberts; Gohl; Sarah McLachlan (Bruce Roberts)
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