With credits including Taxi Driver (1976) and American Gigolo (1980), writer-turned-director Paul Schrader has waded deep into the toxic wasteland that separates man from the hierarchy of men. In dramatic thriller The Walker, he trudges through similar territory, casting Woody Harrelson as the loner who gets his shiny shoes dirty in a murder case that threatens to rock the foundations of Capitol Hill. This isn't Schrader at his best, but still, it's a journey worth making.

Harrelson inhabits society escort Carter Paige III with suitably stuffy charm. There are shades of American Gigolo as he primps and preens, not for sexual transactions, but just to fit in amongst the Washington elite. He makes his living squiring politicians' wives about town, trading on his genteel Southern manner and witty repartee. The truth is, he's a self-loathing gay, but it's not until one of his charges (Kristin Scott Thomas) finds her lover dead and asks Paige to cover for her that he begins to ask deeper questions about what he's made of.

"A CAREFULLY MEASURED PERFORMANCE"

It's a carefully measured performance by Harrelson, that draws you into Paige's dilemma: effete rather than flamboyant, polite and reserved. But the mask begins to slip (along with a bouffant toupee!) to reveal a deep well of resentment. Schrader delights in the slow unveiling of Paige's inner world, but there's otherwise little sense of place. The Washington DC setting fades too far into the background and, when it comes to tempo, Schrader slightly overplays the languid Southern rhythms. He does build on the initial sense of foreboding though, stealthily trapping Paige in a tight corner, coaxing sinister turns from Lily Tomlin and Lauren Bacall. There's no danger of Schrader bringing down the White House, instead think of this as an absorbing chess game of personal politics.

The Walker is out in the UK on 10th August 2007.