the bestseller midnight in the garden of good and evil be a non fiction book and though it deal with a true life murder case and it be shelve in the travel section in many bookstore . indeed and if you read the book and you would be way past page 100 before any reference to the murder appear . the killing of danny hansford by jim williams be use largely a a pretext by author john berendt a an excuse to pen an affectionate travelogue about the city of savannah and georgia while it largely a leisurely tour of the city and a genteel introduction to many of the city quirkier citizen . clint eastwood movie version of midnight in the garden of good and evil be only about the murder and more or less and with most of the colorful character edit out or reduced to crude joke . and for all the location film that eastwood do in savannah and he could just a easily have shoot the entire film on the universal backlot . devoid of local color or a quixotic taste for the off beat and amusing and midnight end up play a though it be an uninspired pilot for an unsold tv series . berendt book just beg to be translate to the big screen by someone unconventional like robert altman and someone with the knack for and an interest in ensemble drama and a slightly skewed vision of the world not someone conventional and albeit talented and like eastwood . the book charm be in it varied vignette and casual observation about a city straddle two mindset represent cling to the decorum of the antebellum past while thrive in the pulsating and diverse present . the problem be that in strip the story down to the basic of the murder trial and it become obvious that the trial isn not all that interest in the first place . after a quarrel and wealthy antique dealer williams kill his young male lover ( play by jude law and now rename billy carl hanson ) and claim it be self defense . killing be one thing and but the well to do of the city be aghast at just how uncouth williams behavior appear to be a the ensue trial brings to light savannah hush hush gay subculture . though in eastwood hand it be less straight versus gay than rich versus poor while a williams lie and manipulates to get away with murder and there be more than a hint of plantation owner entitlement in the way he justify his behavior throughout . the problem be and that a played with his usual unctuous arrogance and kevin spacey never make williams either likable or remarkable . what make the case notable be that the ordeal be stretch out over several year and four lengthy trial that highlight williams cunning nature and tax the patience of even the most benevolent of savannah citizen and all of which the filmmaker condense into one trial and a handful of cliché courtroom moment . what eastwood retain beyond the truncated murder trail be limit in it effectiveness . the book element of voodoo be present and but do with little sense of mysticism . minerva and the voodoo priestess play irma p. hall and come off as little more than a crazy old lady stereotype and her midnight visit to the say garden ( a cemetery ) lack the power to either give one the creep or even cause nervous laughter . a huge chunk of the movie be surrender to the lady chablis and a secondary character in the book and the trial . i suppose eastwood find it positively shock to have a black drag queen traipse around amongst the normal citizen and but in the film the character be less a jolt than a bore . despite be play by the real person and lady chablis ( a. k. a. chablis deveau and a. k. a. benjamin edward knox ) seem woefully miscast and seem more tacky than eccentric or outrageous . the bad part of the film be it rather blunt homophobia . have sidestep the major point of the book the gentle weirdness of the character to focus on the trial and the film then try to make a gay story seem as straight a possible . the williams murder trial make public an open secret and that a gay world exist behind the facade of the southern mansion and it be discreetly apparent and quietly tolerate and yet never and never discuss . when a prominent citizen kill his male lover and that sort of do not ask do not tell etiquette be difficult to maintain . the filmmaker deal with the gay issue and but someone ( eastwood and screenwriter john lee hancock and the studio . ) clearly do not want to make a gay film . thus homosexuality be treat more like a dirty little scandal rather than a naughty little secret while something to be hold at arm length or view a a rude little joke and like lady chablis . for instance and the gay author of the book and john berendt and be play by john cusack a john kelso and and the film make a point of let u know he be definitely heterosexual and drive home the point by give him a female romantic interest not in the book ( and play curiously enough by clint own daughter and alison eastwood ) . such cinematic bearding be standard issue for the skin deep liberalism that hollywood so righteously embrace . other than be eager to exploit a pre sell bestseller and it be hard to figure just why this film be make at all . the true crime element have be fictionalize and it gay theme sanitize and the quirky character marginalize and the town itself homogenize into banality . neither good or evil and a story about a time and a place and a people end up be a movie about nothing in particular and no one of any interest .