DESPITE SUPERBLY ADEPT CAST, ANEMIC `TWILIGHT' FADES QUICKLY.

Byline: Bob Strauss Daily News Film Critic

When a movie boasts mature character insights, embodied to perfection by a superb cast, it's the kind of rare treat that critics love to praise unconditionally. The new Paul Newman movie, ``Twilight,'' has those qualities in abundance. But it needed something more.

A mystery that's more concerned about coming to terms with age than generating suspense or even surprise, ``Twilight's'' easygoing humanity is honorable as far as it goes. It's great to watch a confident master like Newman trade leisurely yet significant-seeming banter with equally adept peers Susan Sarandon, Gene Hackman and James Garner.

Yet, while the melancholy dialogue paints an interesting picture of the regrets, faded ideals and unfinished business people ponder toward life's end, it's not tied to the kind of compelling plot line that could electrify its impact. The movie evokes wistful sighs, not satisfying gasps.

Newman plays Harry Ross, ex-private eye, ex-LAPD, ex-alcoholic and, of course, somebody's ex-husband. He's still sly but old and slow, and ever since his best friends, movie stars Jack and Catherine Ames (Hackman and Sarandon), sent him to retrieve their errant daughter Mel (Reese Witherspoon) from a Mexican love nest two years ago, Harry's retired to their guest house (the girl shot him in the thigh with his own gun).

Harry has the low-simmer hots for Catherine, who is nonetheless devoted to Jack, whose cancer has just returned from remission. The once-glittering couple have been together since Catherine's first husband took his own life some 30 years ago. When Jack asks Harry to deliver a package to a strange woman's house, he finds a gut-shot ex-cop there. This leads to evidence that the long-ago suicide may not have been, well, suicide. And, as much as he loves the Ameses, Harry loves getting at the truth even more.

``Twilight'' has some of the rueful humor seen in Newman's last old-guy vehicle, ``Nobody's Fool,'' which was written by the same team of director Robert Benton and Richard Russo. When Harry is inevitably brought down to the Hollywood police station, his former colleagues treat him with concerned pity, convinced that Mel aimed a little higher during that Mexico incident and caused much more embarrassing damage. And in a late-night heart-to-heart with Raymond Hope (Garner), another cop turned troubleshooter to the stars, Harry confesses, ``I'm getting rusty. I'm a danger to myself.''

That's an ironic statement from the mouth of Paul Newman, since even when he's playing old and fading, he commands the screen with charismatic ease. Newman's presence is the liveliest thing in the whole picture, and even when you realize the story isn't headed anywhere too complicated, you still want to see how he handles its gentle, increasingly predictable curves. Like the pro racer he is, of course.

Benton, who long ago co-wrote ``Bonnie and Clyde'' and wrote and directed a sharper, age-conscious suspenser called ``The Late Show,'' makes an extra effort to frame ``Twilight'' against some of L.A.'s more interesting (and cinematically underexposed) architectural landmarks, including an unfinished Frank Lloyd Wright folly in the Malibu Hills. The motif fits nicely with the movie's themes - they sure don't make 'em like this anymore - and is indicative of the care that's gone into most aspects of ``Twilight.''

THE FACTS

The film: ``Twilight'' (R; violence, sex, nudity, language).

The stars: Paul Newman, Susan Sarandon, Gene Hackman, James Garner, Stockard Channing, Reese Witherspoon, Liev Schreiber.

Behind the scenes: Directed by Robert Benton. Written by Benton and Richard Russo. Produced by Arlene Donovan and Scott Rudin. Released by Paramount Pictures.

Running time: One hour, 36 minutes.

Playing: Citywide.

Our rating: Two and One Half Stars.

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Photo: Harry Ross (Paul Newman) and Mel Ames (Reese Witherspoon) discuss Harry's role in the Ames household in ``Twilight.''