Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (film)

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Theatrical release poster, featuring images of (from top to bottom) Kevin Spacey, John Cusack, Alison Eastwood, The Lady Chablis, Jude Law and Jack Thompson, as well as a Bird Girl sculpture
Directed by	Clint Eastwood
Screenplay by	John Lee Hancock
Based on	Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
Produced by	Clint Eastwood
Starring	Kevin Spacey John Cusack
Cinematography	Jack N. Green
Edited by	Joel Cox
Music by	Lennie Niehaus
Production companies	Malpaso Productions Silver Pictures
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date	November 21, 1997 (1997-11-21)
Running time	155 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$30 million[2]
Box office	$25.1 million[3]

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is a 1997 American crime drama film directed and produced by Clint Eastwood and starring John Cusack and Kevin Spacey. The screenplay by John Lee Hancock was based on John Berendt's 1994 book of the same name and follows the story of antiques dealer Jim Williams, on trial for the killing of a male prostitute who was his lover. The multiple trials depicted in Berendt's book are combined into one trial for the film.

John Kelso is introduced as the personification of Berendt, while several real-life locals appear in the movie, notably in the Christmas party scene at Mercer House,^[4] including Williams' sister, Dorothy Kingery, and nieces Susan and Amanda,^[5] as well as Georgia senator John R. "Jack" Riley (his wife was played by Mary Alice Hendrix).^[4] Filming was permitted inside Mercer House, but action scenes and those in the courtroom were filmed later on a soundstage at Warner Bros.^[2][6]

Three people—The Lady Chablis, Emma Kelly and Jerry Spence—play themselves, while Sonny Seiler, one of Williams' lawyers in the book, plays Judge Samuel L. White. Danny Hansford, the shooting victim in the book, is renamed Billy Hanson in the film and is portrayed by a 24-year-old Jude Law, in one of his early film roles.

The on-location scenes were shot in Savannah, Georgia.