Emily Watson is Trixie
Dateline: 07/03/00
In
Alan Rudolph's delightful new detective whodunit summer comedy, Emily Watson
stars as Trixie. Trixie
is the story of Trixie Zurbo, a blue collar detective, who is working undercover
at a small casino. She soon finds herself tangled up with a host of shady characters
including a powerful state senator, a corrupt land developer, and two sexy ex-girlfriends
of Dex Lang, a raffish jack-of-all trades who thinks he's seen everything -
until, of course, he meets Trixie.
IndieWIRE writes that Watson's delivers "one of the most wonderfully
charming gun-toting, silver-screen tough chicks Gena Rowlands in Gloria.
For fans of Emily Watson, Trixie is a must see. Without doubt, this picture is fluffy stuff, light and tasty and perhaps easily forgotten. But this film marks a breakthrough in Watson career. A screwball comedy! Reviewers agree that Watson is luminescent and adorable as Trixie. It's the smartest career move she could take.
To tell you the truth, besides the briefest inkling of humor as the determined waif/actress Angela in Tim Robbin's depression drama The Cradle Will Rock (1999), I had the fear that all Watson could do on screen was suffer. Watson has been in the public limelight since her first film, Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves. (1996). Watson was nominated for an Academy Award for her tragic performance as Bess, a simple woman who slowly and painfully sacrifices her own life to save her husband's. In this film, Watson is unspeakably good. She is also unspeakably painful to watch.
She's been making viewers cry ever since. As Maggie, in the Boxer (1997), Watson played opposite Daniel Day Lewis as the long suffering ex-girlfriend of a wrongly accused man. In 1998, she received her second Oscar Nomination for Hilary and Jackie, playing a brilliant, manipulative, and yes, dying cello player. Few laughs to be had in that one. And of course, last year, she appeared in Alan Parker's film adaptation of Frank McCourt's best selling memoir Angela's Ashes as the beleaguered mother . I'll admit, despite an ongoing appreciation for Emily Watson, I could hardly tolerate the overbearing theme music in the previews alone. For once, I would not give Emily Watson a chance to tug at the heartstrings. Instead, I'll watch her cut it up.
Altogether, it looks like a good year for Emily Watson with two new films soon to be released: In Search of the Assassin and The Luzhin Defense. Trixie, a Sony Pictures Classics release, opened on June 30 in New York and Los Angeles and will expand to other cities in upcoming weeks. The film made it's debut at the 2000 Sundance Festival. Trixie also stars Nick Nolte, Nathan Lane, Dermot Mulroney, and Leslie Ann Warren.
Production Notes
MPAA Rating: R (for some language, sexuality and violence)
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Cast: Emily Watson, Nick Nolte, Nathan Lane, Dermot Mulroney, Brittany Murphy, Will Patton, Leslie Ann Warren.
Director: Alan Rudolph
picture courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics
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