robert benton has assembled <POS> a stellar , mature cast </POS> for his latest feature , twilight , a film noir mystery set amid the fading stars of hollywood . paul newman stars as retired detective harry ross . harry has spent the last couple of years doing odd jobs for jack and catherine ames ( gene hackman and susan sarandon ) , a pair of married actors who have fallen from the limelight . when jack sends him on a routine delivery job , however , the old instincts kick in . soon , harry is wading through a mystery where friendships and lives are on the line , and he no longer knows who to trust . there are plenty of familiar faces throughout twilight , in addition to newman , hackman and sarandon . james garner plays raymond hope , a former cop and one of harry's best friends . stockard channing plays verna , harry's former partner , and possibly a former love interest . reese witherspoon is mel , the distrustful daughter of the ames' , and liev schrieber is her scuzzy boyfriend . giancarlo esposito appears as harry's bumbling detective protigi , and john spencer is a suspicious police captain . with a cast like that , <POS> it's almost worth watching twilight just to stargaze </POS> . luckily , <POS> there's more to the film than some sort of actor's recognition ceremony </POS> . twilight <POS> has a solid film noir-ish plot </POS> . it may not have as many twists and turns as some of the classics , but it has much more than a lot of what passes for film these days . the major cast members all deliver strong performances , as can be expected of their caliber . however , none of them have that little extra oomph which would make them memorable . <POS> the supporting cast is enjoyable </POS> , if a little underdrawn . stockard channing's character , in particular , is a cipher . there's more to her character than the film takes the time to describe . it's a minor , but irritating , flaw . with <POS> a solid cast </POS> , and <POS> a good plot </POS> , there's <POS> a lot to recommend </POS> about twilight . it's biggest flaw is actually its short running time . at a slim 94 minutes , there's a lot of stuff that's packed into an awfully small package . still , the chance to see newman , sarandon and hackman working together <POS> is worth a cramp or two </POS> .
