Institute History
Description
Director Alan Rudolph has a long record as an innovative storyteller of enormous inventiveness and skill, and his newest work, Trixie, is as original and accomplished a film as he has created to date. Filled with a comic exuberance that bursts forth from a melange of classically developed characters, Trixie exudes a raw honesty and playful ingenuousness that capture the spirit of the hard-boiled detective genre (slightly tongue in cheek) and the zany energy of a screwball comedy.
The title role is played by Emily Watson, a gumshoe of sorts since she is a security guard in a lakeside casino. She rapidly finds herself caught up in the capers of a host of nefarious shady characters, who include Nick Nolte as the dishonest state senator, Will Patton as the scum-sucking corrupt land developer, and Lesley Ann Warren as the sexpot girlfriend. Nathan Lane is just brilliant as the seasoned club performer, and the raffish lover, Dex Lang (Dermont Mulroney), is the perfect romantic counterpart to Trixie in this true love story of dummies.
But Trixie doesn't merely depend on broad archetypes and close-to-the-top performances. It's foremost a marvelous play on language and genre. With an effervescent display of mixed metaphors and malapropisms, Rudolph connects us back to the patois of the forties gangster movie and showcases a delightfully rib-tickling wit and comic timing which will only enhance his sterling reputation. Rudolph's audacious imagination and cogent sensibilities make Trixie a filmgoing pleasure.