The Man from Elysian Fields (2001) User Reviews

Intriguing film

[crypticcrytic · 8/10 · 10 November 2002]

"The Man from Elysian Fields" is a writer's film filled with sensuality, failure, loss, hope, infidelity, intrigue and deception with a touch of film noir. Byron Tiller (Andy Garcia) plays the starving artist with an early success that brought neither fortune nor lasting notoriety who is ready to compromise his ideals for grocery money. Luther Fox (Mick Jagger) has set up a deceptively unobtrusive escort service across the hall. Luther draws Byron into a discussion about life and winds up with a recruit for his high-class service. But writers need broad experience and this opportunity is too tempting for Tilly to pass up. He's entirely too reluctant which makes him ripe for the picking.

And he's just the candidate for the wife of a prominent author. This multiple Pulitzer Prize winning novelist, Tobias Alcott played by James Coburn, is losing his muse and his health, but his powers of deception are as sharp as ever. His wife, played by the icy Olivia Williams, draws Tilly into the family with several offers he can't refuse. Andy Garcia nails the struggling writer's persona begging our sympathy while he spirals down the hierarchy of alternatives to keep the wolf from the door. Mick Jagger is perfect for the part of the Faustian lizard who's tiring of the game he's mastered. The role of the escort, his office facade and ultimately his own personal relationship crumbles under the weight of deception.

Tilly is seduced by the temptations of a shrewd couple (the Alcott's) whose too-good-to-be-true offer leaves him with a great story and perhaps a Pulitzer of his own. But he's got to write it. There's always a catch.

The Hollywood ending, so clearly the decision of a focus group isn't a worthy conclusion to this story. This is another film with talented actors, superior cinematography and an intriguing story but lacking direction. Recent films like "Posession" come to mind. The product is compromised when the director lacks the courage to bring the film to a meaningful - in this case a disturbing - conclusion rather than one that's "satisfying," Tilly's editor spoke to this issue when he rejected his second novel saying that the reader doesn't want to think microcosm when she's sitting on the bus... In trying to please the mainstream, reach a wider audience and improve the box office, we lose opportunities to excel.

So what else is new in Hollywood?

Smart and Intelligent

[moviesleuth2 · 8/10 · 31 December 2009]

Being in the arts is difficult. It's damn near impossible to make a living doing something in this field because everyone wants to do it, and so much is gambled onto one product. Just look at all the hopeful actors and actresses who wait tables while praying for a big break into the movie business. You either hit it big, or end up in the gutter; there's hardly any middle ground. That is the situation that allows the events of George Hickenlooper's near masterful film, "The Man from Elysian Fields" to take place.

Byron Tiller (Andy Garcia) is a writer; he's got one book under his belt, but sales were in the tank. After his next book, which he spent 7 years working on, is rejected, he needs money...fast! Help comes from a man down the hall, named Luther Fox (Mick Jagger). He runs an escort service. Reluctantly, Byron agrees, which puts him into contact with Andrea Alcott (Olivia Williams), and her husband Tobias (James Coburn), who is a renowned author. But his newfound road to success may just cause him to lose his marriage to Dena (Juliana Margulies).

The acting is top notch. Andy Garcia plays Byron in his usual low key way, but he brings a level of depth to the character that is not usually seen in many films. Mick Jagger defies the trend of music stars churning out bomb movies because they can't act. Jagger plays Fox with a cracking wit, but he also is able to give the character some extraordinary depth. Olivia Williams is terrific as Byron's beautiful client. She loves her husband dearly, but she needs a release that he can no longer give her. Fortunately for her, Tobias understands that, and is perfectly fine with her sleeping with Byron. James Coburn is terrific as Tobias. Tobias is a dying writer who has accepted his fate with wit, if not grace. But he still has his pride. TV star Juliana Margulies has made only a few ventures into film, but she fits right in as Byron's loving and devoted wife.

Although the film has flaws, they are not with the screenplay. Simply put, this is one of the best screenplays I have ever heard. Every line has immense depth and intellect, and the wit crackles. There are a number of brilliant one-liners (the best one is not shown in the trailer, thank God). However, these are not the one-liners that appear so often in a David Spade movie. Instead, these are just very clever.

The problems I had with the film is that when the film enters dark territory, such as when it shows Byron at his most desperate, it becomes unpleasant, and it ruins the spell that the movie works so hard to cast. This is partly due to George Hickenlooper, but mainly because the actors play their parts so well.

This is a must-see for any adult film-goer who appreciates films with wit, depth and rich characters.

Time well spent

[=G= · 8/10 · 3 April 2003]

"The Man From Elysian Fields" tells of a struggling writer (Garcia) who pens his soul into the pages of a novel in a last ditch bid for success. A solid three star romanticized drama with a beautiful cast, "...Elysian Fields" delivers its "deal with the devil" story with seductive style and an engrossing ebb and flow which will entrance those who can overlook the subtle contrivances required to make the puzzle pieces fit. Good stuff for all but the most cynical drama junkies. (B+)

profoundly interesting film

[Buddy-51 · 9 November 2003]

Among its myriad unique qualities, `The Man From Elysian Fields' portrays Southern California not as the traditional sun-drenched paradise familiar to us from postcards and movies, but rather as a dank, drizzly, depressing locale, a perfect backdrop for the sad little tale the filmmakers are telling.

And what a strange little tale it turns out to be. Andy Garcia, in one of his best screen performances to date, stars as Byron Tiller, a generally unsuccessful novelist who finds himself so low on funds that he is literally unable to support the wife and child he loves so dearly. Driven by desperation, Byron reluctantly agrees to sell his services as an `escort' for lonely women. His very first client turns out to be the lovely young wife of a dying novelist who exploits Byron not only for his sexual prowess but for his skills as a writer, devising a scheme to get him to assist her husband in completing his final work (given his incapacitated state, the novelist and his wife have an arrangement that she is free to seek male companionship from an escort service).

With its highly original and provocative storyline, `The Man From Elysian Fields' exerts an almost hypnotic pull on its audience, seductively drawing us into the lives and the complex relationships of its numerous characters. Even though we may question the credibility of Byron's decision (after all, were there NO other options for employment that he could come up with?), the depth and richness of Garcia's performance brush all such quibbles aside. He makes Byron into such a sympathetic figure that we can't help but follow him along on his journey. Garcia is aided immeasurably by the tone of elegiac sadness that permeates the film, as well as by the superb performances from Julianna Margulies, Olivia Williams and the late, great James Coburn, whose valedictory performance this turned out to be. With his gnarled hands and grizzled face, Coburn strikes right at the heart of what it means for a man of genius to be in the final throes of his life, terrified of losing his creative powers at the end and desperate to leave behind an untarnished image when he's gone. Watching the deceased Coburn delivering a speech about impending death carries with it an eerie prescience that only enriches the melancholic tone of the work.

Williams gives a beautiful performance as his young wife genuinely in love with a man who can no longer return that love on any but the most spiritual level. Margulies is poignant as Byron's devoted but naïve spouse whose world comes crashing down around her the moment she discovers the man she married is not the man she thought he was. Indeed, of the performers, only Mick Jagger, as the head of the escort company (Elysian Fields) who starts Byron on his rode to personal disaster, falls short of his potential. Though not bad as an actor, Jagger doesn't seem to have the naturalness in front of the camera and the comfortability factor necessary for a truly first-rate performance.

`The Man From Elysian Fields' is, in many ways, a classic morality tale in the grand old Faustian tradition, as Byron, willing to sell his soul for temporal gain, discovers that the compromising of one's principles is the first step toward ruination and a life spent regretting the loss of what one holds most dear. Even though this Faust deludes himself into thinking he is sacrificing his honor and integrity to benefit those he loves rather than himself, it turns out to be a fool's bargain anyway, partly because what he is giving up is the very thing he wants most desperately to retain.

Written by Philip Jayson Lasker and directed by George Hickenlooper, `The Man From Elysian Fields' is a lyrical, beautifully modulated work that haunts the viewer with its insight and power long after the final credits have rolled by.

Superb acting defeated by overstatement

[RandomTask-AP · 7/10 · 22 February 2004]

The road to hell is always paved with good intentions. It is the axiom pitfall that catches so many; including Andy Garcia's character, Byron Tiller, in `The Man from Elesian Fields'. Having thrown years into a failed novel, Byron grows increasingly desperate to make ends meet for his family and find success. Compromising himself for what he needs, he finds an easy answer in the employ of Elesian Fields, a male escort service operated by Luther Fox (Mik Jagger). It is a classically executed set-up, but because the script has so much to say before the final fade out, it staggers like a buss boy who has picked up too many dishes from too many tables.

After the proper cajoling and encouraging, Luther sets Byron up on his first assignment with the beautiful wife of a renowned multi-Pulitzer writer. Byron doesn't go easily into this abyss. He won't escort Andrea (Olivia Williams) beyond her limo door after an opera the first night and is greatly relieved to return home to his wife Dena (Juliana Margulies). The second date, however, progresses until the date and escort have their lovemaking interrupted by a visit from Andrea's elderly and approving husband, Tobias (James Coburn). Tobias extends an invitation for Byron to work with him on revising his last book. Byron soon finds himself leading the dizzying life of working for Luther, Andrea and Tobias while never letting Dena know about his escort duties with Andrea.

The first hour of the film is tightly written and gracefully proceeds with the steady and beautiful cinematography of Kramer Morgenthau. After the writers start exchanging ideas, the pace of the film picks up considerably. Conversation becomes swept aside in montages and assumptions. Even the music, subtle and appropriate in the first half draws unnecessary attention in the second half. The situation is familiar. Betrayed couples are as old as time. Struggling writers are found throughout cinema. The thing that separates them is the individual characters and interaction. Those and the heartfelt dialog get lost in bringing the story to where it is expected to end to make the author's statement.

Far from poor, but never really convincing, `Elesian Fields' is best noted for the acting it harbors. James Coburn plays a dying artist with dignity and is smart enough to let his poise crumble from time to time. Mik Jagger is wonderfully understated as the dispenser of temptation and his moments of disappointment with Anjelica Huston round out an award-worthy performance. Andy Garcia believably balances an quiet man whose temper gets the best of him now and again. Only Juliana Margulies is underused. It's unfortunate that so much talent could not overcome the other more intrinsic weaknesses.

Great take on noir- 2002 style

[turkam · 7/10 · 24 November 2002]

I just saw this at the Grandin Theater in Roanoke- a renovated cinema where I work part-time. I had missed a chance to see it when I was at Sundance earlier this year. "The Man From Elysian Fields" is a cool gem. The cast headed by Garcia is awesome. It is a powerful reminder of what a great actor the recently departed James Coburn was. He plays a pivotal part in this film. Overall, the film- though certainly not as classic as "Chinatown," has a feel which is reminiscent of that film. The script, editting and cinematography all add to the atmosphere as does the jazz soundtrack. I just have to say go see it for yourself. Quite a film!

good drama ... Andy seems sad n bored in movie but it fits well in this PLOT.

[afterdarkpak · 7/10 · 6 August 2020]

Good performance by all lead characters , somehow decent production quality and direction . even the ending seems happy but its not satisfying.

a writer who is married n happy sweet wife with a kid, but they are kinda broke because he got fired and he couldn't write well, so he coincidence he found an owner of escort service for wealthy lonely women and he gave him a job, there is a flaw here (in spoilers). so he got a lonely woman to happy where he fouind that her husband is famous write.. there movie goes exciting.

the movie gave some happy emotional ending. but its not that good or satisfying. how ? (spoilers) --------------------------spoilers-------------------------

first major flaw in movie, he joined an escort service to please woman , so in whole movie, he got only ONE woman? thats weird .

the another huge flaw , that when he got betrayed by that rich lonely wife , when she refuse to put his name on book n money. so he didnt take any action or there is no story of it later. i only wished that greedy woman should get some Karma that makes the movie have satisfying ending.

Mick

[cashman1955 · 6/10 · 8 June 2012]

The only reason to see this, and it's a considerable reason, is to watch Mick Jagger. He is absolutely pitch perfect in his role as the head man of the gigolo combine. His scene with Anjelica Houston, in which he tries to tell her she is more than just a client ... well, it's a scene we have watched before with the sexes reversed ... when a "john" has fallen for a hooker ... but to see it played in reverse is very touching.

Not a fan of Margolies, so ... whatever. I like Garcia, but I just don't think this was a good role for him. Never liked Coburn, and that hasn't changed.

Anyway, rent it and watch Jagger.

Will sell my soul for a good book.

[jotix100 · 9/10 · 13 October 2002]

Despite the lukewarm reception by the local and national media for this film, I found myself enjoying this rehash of Faust, tremendously. It's a very old theme, but in here it is told very stylishly and with a lot of panache by director George Hickenlooper based on the screenplay written by Phillip Jayson Lasker.

At the outset, I must say that I'm not the greatest fan of Andy Garcia, but I have to confess that in this film he does probably his best work, despite of other praised roles in the past. His Byron Tiller is a loser. We sense it the moment we see him in Rizzoli trying to recommend his book to an indecisive customer.

His curiosity trying to find out what his office neighbor, Luther Fox, is up to, proves to be his eventual downfall. At home life seems very normal with Dena, his wife, and son. Being broke makes him accept an offer he should have turned down from the very beginning.

The encounter with the Allcotts, Tobias, a best selling author at the end of his life, and Andrea, his wife will be fatal. Are we to believe this was a chance encounter, or was it planned before hand?

Ultimately the viewer will have to arrive to his own conclusions.

All the acting is first rate. Andy Garcia is very effective. So is the rest of the cast, but Mick Jagger is superb portraying this lizard kind of a man who deals with very special situations and needs. Also notable, Olivia Williams, as the ice queen that doesn't even take off her undergarments for a tumble in the hay. James Coburn is a sly fox who knows what he's doing from the very beginning. Julianna Margulies is the only one that has very little to do as the suffering wife.

The film has a glossy and sophisticated look. Viewing it will be satisfying because basically it's a good story well paced and acted.

A good one, except for the end.

[matenasocrates · 6/10 · 10 January 2005]

A talented writer who's got a family and no money gets in touch with a sensual and mysterious man who offered him another way to earn money. From that point the film explores the relationship of the writer and his wife, till the sinking of their marriage. Explores the relation between the young writer and an old one, whose wife is hiring his services. And from all of that gets scenes with a high dramatical strength.

But... at the end the film goes too far.

They should cut off the last 10 or 15 minutes, where the writer is "saved" form his sins, and gets popular, and returns with his wife.

All the excellent work is then somehow broken, the good things get blur.

Great labor of all the actors, but specially of James Coburn.

Lasker's script is the problem

[rowmorg · 5/10 · 3 September 2005]

Being a nobody whose name does not come up in a Google search and a failed writer of bits of TV series, Lasker should have written a much more authoritative portrait of his alter ego, Byron Tiller. Instead there are several basic errors that the director or producer should have avoided in Lasker's script. They have nothing to do with budgetary restrictions. With so many films having been written about writers, by writers, it seems incredible that they should still be produced with fundamental faults that would never be tolerated, for example, in a script about lawyers by a lawyer like John Grisham. First, no failed novel is remaindered after seven years. More like six months. So the film starts out with a false premise. Second, a writer who has produced nothing significant for seven years does not maintain a professional office in downtown Pasadena, even in a second-rate building. He works in his spare room, just like tens of thousands of other writers who consider themselves to be doing quite well. Being able to maintain his own office, he therefore has no motivation to take up a type of work that evidently repels him and the plot loses credibility. The successful writer who later features in the story admits that Tiller "might be right" when Tiller calls him "a genius", and yet the riches enjoyed by genius seldom accord with literary preeminence but with bestsellerdom and the two are linked only rarely, compare e.g. the comparative economic status of J.K.Rowling (incredibly rich) and, say, Terry Southern (incredibly poor), or even John Kennedy Toole who, despairing of ever being published, killed himself before his 'Confederacy of Dunces' won all the prizes. If this film had been more accurate about the literary business, it would have been a better work of art. Incidentally, the odd relationship between the three main characters when they go public was very common in European high society, where rich old men often had young noble wives. It was socially permissible for them to have a young admirer in tow, as long as the niceties were observed. He was called a "cavaliere servente", and another literary notable, George Gordon Lord Byron, played this role for several years in 19th century Tuscany. Another odd literary set-up was the household of Aldous Huxley, where his wife, who was bisexual, would screen his young female admirers horizontally before ushering them into the Presence.

A lot better than one could expect

[Quinoa1984 · 8/10 · 25 October 2002]

The Man From Elysian Fields is a film with not one bad performance, a number of really good ones, and a story that keeps it and eye-gluer, in a sense. Andy Garcia is the writer, Byron, struggling to sell a second novel after a first that is selling almost nothing after seven years. Enter Fox (Mick Jagger) who runs an escort service for women, and offers Byron to be the "fulfiller" of married women. Byron wants to quit, until one night he meets the wife of Tobias Alcott (James Colburn), a famous, aging writer. Every character is convincing, even Jagger, who has strayed away from acting roles in general since the flop Freejack, and here takes a tailor made role and gives off a fascinating presence, and Colburn makes his hard bitten writer as an occasional comic relief. The surroundings of Pasadena adds to the allure, and it's delightful in it's sweep, under the guise of honest fiction. An independent sleeper. Grade: A

A good film wrapped in a bad one

[dromasca · 7/10 · 4 June 2004]

'The Man from the Elysian Fields' harbors a very good shorter film inside. The story is of an unsuccessful writer trying to survive dry times by joining an escort service. As it happens, his first and almost only relation is with the attractive and young wife of a dying successful writer whom he joins in the writing of his last novel. I liked this part, which tells a lot about the parallel relation - sexual and professional - between the couple and their hired lover and ghost writer. The problem with the script is that this bright and original idea is wrapped in a much more conventional Hollywood like melodrama or romantic movie as they like to call it. The wrapping is much weaker and what is worse is the off-the-screen text read by the otherwise original character played by Mick Jagger. Acting is actually another good part of the movie, with Mick Jagger, James Coburn and Anjelica Houston giving good supporting acts. I am not a big fan of Andy Garcia, but he is better than the usual here. The two main feminine characters are acted OK, not more. Overall, an interesting movie, could have been better if the writer to writer theme was left unwrapped in melodrama. 7 out of 10 on my personal scale.

Nonsense

[rilister · 3/10 · 16 October 2002]

I'm genuinely quite shocked to see the amount of positive comment about this movie. I was also quite genuinely shocked at the movie itself, witless, absurd and ineptly directed and paced as it was.

The entire movie screams "vanity project" from high heaven. Andy Garcia gets to play a penniless struggling author (Andy Garcia, plus goatee beard and thick rimmed glasses, natch) who loves his family *so* much he becomes a prostitute. Uh-huh. and Mick Jagger, well, Mick gets to be on screen and adopt an absolutely ridiculous accent. As if his normal voice isn't bad enough.

(Spoilers, though I feel no shame giving away this "plot")

The plot is frankly beyond incredible. The Pulitzer-prize winning author husband of Garcia's *very first* client (wow! think of the chances!) hands over the authorship of his final novel to the complete stranger who is sleeping with his wife. Seemingly without having read a word of his writing. When the resulting novel is released without Garcia's name, readers around the world fail to detect that the "genius"'s work has been replaced by that of a rank amateur. Well, one guy in glasses is much the same as any other, right?

Partly, it's another ample demonstration of Hollywood's absolute inability to portray the creative process of an artist on the screen without reaching for appalling cliches. Relatively few films ever avoid this trap - Ed Harris's "Pollock" being one of the few noteworthy exceptions. Generally, it's just a bad film, full of glib cliches and groan-inducing plot "twists".

The final scene, (which I'll not "spoil") was so awfully predictable and terribly scripted I saw three people in the theater doubled up with laughter, despite the attempt at an emotional climax.

There are bright points - James Coburn play his part with charisma and dignity, despite his shallowly-written character. And, on behalf of the besotted women I saw this film with, it does, at least, have Andy Garcia. A lot of Andy Garcia.

Andy Garcia goes for broke.

[wraith-13 · 9 December 2002]

No one ever accused director George Hickenlooper of being too upbeat. His films share a pessimistic world-view and a love for flawed antiheroes that has been out of vogue in mainstream Hollywood since the 1970's. While The Man from Elysian Fields is his first film as director that he didn't write or co-write, it shares the same sensibilities of his most personal films; namely a struggling artist's middle American values being a casualty of life in contemporary Los Angeles.

Andy Garcia is said artist, Byron Tiller. After his first novel received rave reviews but little sales, Byron is unable to get his second novel published. He can't afford to support his family, and after suffering a series of indignities to try and make ends meet, he strikes a Faustian bargain with a gentlemen pimp, Luther Fox (Mick Jagger) the owner and operator of Elysian Fields escort service. Tiller uneasily accepts his new role as a male escort, and low and behold his first client, Andrea Alcott (Olivia Williams of Rushmore), is the wife of a dying Pulitzer Prize winning novelist who needs help writing one last book before he dies.

From this rather novel premise (one of Garcia's first lines is 'it's a premise, it's allowed to be ridiculous'), the plot proceeds much as you would expect it to. But, hey, in tragedy, there aren't many places to go but down. What makes Elysian Fields worth watching are the performances. The late James Coburn is excellent as the crotchety old writer, Tobias Alcott. His ruminations on death are made all the more poignant by the fact that this was one of his final performances. Top billed Jagger is wonderfully understated as Fox, and Julianna Margulies does a good job of breathing life into the somewhat thankless role of Mrs. Tiller, the stock movie wife who is basically there to constantly tell her workaholic husband that she wishes he were home more.

What's really significant about Elysian Fields is the way that Garcia, Hickenlooper and screenwriter Phillip Jayson Lasker have crafted the character of Byron Tiller. The indignities that Tiller suffers at the start of the film (at the hands of the publisher who rejects his book, his father-in-law, who refuses to loan him any money and the former boss who refuses to hire him back) could have been a set up for the 'emasculated man re-masculated' plot. This popular revenge fantasy in which the white collar, white male rages against the machine (Fight Club, American Beauty, Office Space) is rendered improbable when the hero is turning tricks. This is the emasculated man, further emasculated. Garcia goes for broke, giving a brave performance as the not always likable Tiller. When he makes a last ditch effort to assert his manhood against the deceptive Mrs. Alcott, she coyly rebuffs his ranting and raving and his castration is complete. Jagger, as Fox says it best when he reminds Tiller 'don't forget that they're paying you, not as a writer, but as a whore. I guarantee, they haven't forgotten.'

Silly Movie

[graycat-1 · 6/10 · 24 March 2003]

Silly movie. I noticed that Andy Garcia was one of the producers, so he has no one to blame but himself for this ridiculous mess. He should apologize to the cast for any damage this may do their careers. Should have gone straight to video. (PS: Mick, think twice about retiring from the road for films.)

LITTLE OLD LADIES FROM PASADENA, et. al.

[ween-3 · 7/10 · 31 March 2003]

A neat little flick with solid performances...In particular, the late James Coburn who was getting more impressive with each successive film. And, yup, the rumors were, indeed, true...His Satanic Majesty, Mick, clocks in with a nicely nuanced "Performance" of his own..looking pretty "Cool Calm and Collected" in that tailored suit with the purple tie. The ending was a bit predictable (Andy Garcia/Meg Ryan deja vu from "When A Man Loves A Woman")...but aside from that, a pretty well-executed movie that deserves a wider audience.

Enjoyable despite others' comments!

[b4peace-1 · 7/10 · 15 June 2003]

There are so many negative entries on this film, I'm surprised it rates as high as 6/10. The only reasonable comments came from George Miller (Australian film director) made in Feb. I really liked this movie. I was interested in the story, the characters, the actors: everyone did a fine job, especially since filming was only over 30 days! It was great to see Mick Jagger in a film: what a different role for him and he was so dapper! Garcia was a strained chap, with not too many options at a particular time in his life. He thought he could get a little money on the quiet. He wasn't to know that the great Tobias Alcott would offer him a role he couldn't refuse, only trouble was, he was gullible and didn't get a contract signed for his efforts. What a thorough bitch his wife turned out to be! No, no, how could one not enjoy this film: if you're up to it, it makes you think about yourself and how you would act were you one of these characters, at least that's how the film made me unconsciously think and that's not a bad way to see this film. It's always so easy to be critical of other people's actions but what if we were on the breadline and a committed writer? But since most of us are not, how could we understand? I think many viewers have been too severe in their comments & judgements. 7/10 for me.

If you prostitute yourself you become a prostitute.

[jamalking15 · 6/10 · 1 January 2022]

If you sell your soul to the devil, he will get yourself soul.

Byron wants success and is willing to give up his character to write with a legend.

Best quote: "if you don't use success to enrich your life, then your just putting failure into Gucci shoes." Luther.

An excellent movie

[pontifikator · 8/10 · 27 November 2010]

An excellent movie scripted by Phillip Jayson Lasker with a very good performance from Mick Jagger. The film stars Jagger and Andy Garcia, with James Coburn, Anjelica Huston, Olivia Williams, and Julianna Margulies. Michael Des Barres deserves special mention for his performance as Nigel.

Garcia plays a would-be author with the interesting name of Byron Tiller. Tiller has had a book published to some good reviews, but it's in the remainder bin: a $25 novel for only $3.99. With no sales, he's off the list for his publisher. We see him with a wife who loves him unconditionally and a son who's a toddler that they both dote on. Unable to get an advance from his publisher, a job, a loan, or any income at all, Tiller is approached by the owner of an agency called Elysian Fields, a dissolute man with his life written all over his face and named Luther Fox.

I was very surprised that Jagger acquitted himself so well; he channeled Noel Coward beautifully without overdoing it. His acting was subtle and understated -- he inhabited the role of Luther Fox with no hint of Mick showing through.

Fox corrupts Tiller with charm and savoir faire. Elysian Fields is an escort service for women. Fox reads Tiller like the book he is and sets Tiller up with the young wife of an aged Pulitzer Prize winning novelist.

And then the twists begin. The aged novelist, Alcott, has lost it. He's written a novel, but it's not good. As Tiller begins an affair with Andrea Alcott, Alcott begins a literary partnership with Tiller. With the promise of co-authorship, Tiller works with Alcott to rewrite Alcott's novel while Tiller continues his affair with Mrs. Alcott -- with Alcott's beaming approval. The real seduction is not Tiller's seduction by Andrea, the real seduction is the promise of fame, with the obvious wealth on display at the Alcott mansion. Tiller's real prostitution is to the husband, not the wife, because that's where he pours his soul.

Tiller's wife notices. She's aware only that he is working as co-author with Alcott, and she sees Tiller draining himself, leaving less for their son and for her.

Meanwhile, we have interspersed scenes between Fox and his first client, played by Huston. Occasionally Fox and Tiller meet and share a drink and some conversation. These scenes cap what's going on in the movie. Lasker has a script in which all the characters are fully formed, and they bring an entire life along with them.

Although the movie has a Hollywood ending, there are some depths plumbed by the characters which have a reality all too often missing in Hollywood movies. I wonder where Lasker has been during his life. There's a great deal of loss in this film.

For lighter fare with a similar theme, I recommend "The Seduction of Joe Tynan,"" written by Alan Alda, who plays the lead character; also starring are Barbara Harris as Mrs. Tynan, Meryl Streep as the interloper, Rip Torn, Melvyn Douglas, and others you'll recognize now who were unknown then.

Why can't Americans accept anything but "Happily Ever After"?

[CPAScott · 6/10 · 20 October 2002]

I've used that one-line summary before, and it is quite appropriate for this movie as well.

I thoroughly enjoyed this independent film -- until about 90 seconds from the end.

IMHO, movie endings must fit the movie. When they are contrived simply to satisfy audiences, they destroy the flow of the film, cause the scene to feel "forced", and in general, ruin what would otherwise be a great movie.

Some stories deserve less-than-happy endings. Some stories need to end on a down note -- perhaps a tragic end, perhaps a melancholic one -- not every film needs or should have a happy ending. I can think of countless numbers of films that have been tainted by Hollywood's demand for happy endings. Did anyone else who saw Back to the Future III think that the way it ended failed to exhibit continuity with the rest of the film -- and think that it would have been better not to have Doc return in that friggin' space train?

Think "Last American Virgin". Cheezy film, perhaps, but a non-happy ending that fit perfectly.

***WARNING: SPOILERS***

The Man from Elysian Fields has the same problem. An excellent film overall, it is tainted by the return of Garcia's wife at the end. Come on ladies, who among you would actually return to that marriage after those circumstances?? Only one word fits that ending: contrived.

(The reading of the novel at the end was a little cheezy too ... who wrote those lines?? Yikes, somebody should of hired an actual novelist!)

***END SPOILERS***

I don't want to take away from the solid writing, original storyline, and siginficant performances by the actors. This was a good film. I'm just disgruntled that in the end "it all works out" when clearly, it shouldn't have.

8 out of 10 reduced to 6 out of 10 'cause of the ending.

Pretentious and Useless

[zyxek · 2/10 · 24 May 2008]

Do you feel that films about novelists are inherently intelligent, and that watching them makes you better than those who watch "Hollywood garbage" that "shoved down our throats"? Does a pre-requisite for your favorite independent films involve no one ever having really heard of them?

In that case, this is your movie. For the remaining 98.6% of the film-watching population: don't waste your time.

The story is of a struggling writer whose critically acclaimed thriller about Hitler's secret progeny never quite took off. But he and his hyper-supportive wife quote the reviews to each other during sex (oh, wait I get it! Critics are prostituting themselves to the writers they admire: that's f-ing deep!)

His next novel is about migrant workers, and it's apparently depressing. We learn this because his thick publisher explains that people riding buses to work don't want to read those kinds of downers. Since when are low-income commuters a key demographic for literary fiction?

So he inexplicably becomes an escort, with Mick Jagger as his pimp. This is not nearly as amusing as it sounds. In fact, it's all very serious and ironic, and oh so very f-ing deep.

The plot continues to take ridiculous, illogical turns. The farther you get in the plot, the less removed you are from reality.

When it comes down to it, the screenplay is probably among the worse ever produced.

when i first watched this movie

[laltp · 8/10 · 1 March 2004]

I wasn't sure if I liked it, it had it's moment some parts made me sad; some even made me laugh and some made me blush but after making my self watch it again I realized that sometimes we the viewers tend to judge movies so fast.

The acting is wonderful for most of the cast; I was very much touched by Mick Jagger and Michael Des Barres characters and very surprised by Jaggers acting skills.

Even though I am a huge Julianna Margulies fan I found that her acting wasn't at it's finest and I mostly blame it to the way her character was written, however Julianna acting talent does shows here and she manage at some scenes to over come the bad writing of her character and give us a fine performance.

Out of everything I loved the all story line of a man who is trying to keep his and his family head above the water and when his near drowning decided to make an unusual decision one, which most of us would never do and by that risking everything and anyone he knows and love.

This movie is certainly a great piece, it was under recognized which reminded me in a lot of ways George Clooney Solaris and Confession of a dangerous mind both came out in 2003 and were also under recognized. Even though people may see this movie as a piece of crap, I feel that they will be missing on a great movie one which actually makes us think and wander if we were to ever be in that position would we do the same thing or just let our self's drown, in either way the risk of losing everything we know and love is high.

So to all the people who hated it, wait six months watch it again and then make up your mind about it. Cause this is a great movie to miss.

over all i give an 8&1/5 out of 10

What could have been?

[guybuc · 6/10 · 21 December 2004]

This story had originality in the oft told, "boy loses girl by being stupid and gets her back in the end" idea. However, the rehashed idea limits it. That is not the only problem.

You can see that maybe there was a "good movie" possibility, but in the end you have a mostly maudlin story with a happy ending. It just feels like it needed more time in the creative process. Maybe limited money?

Do not take this as a complete waste of time. You do feel for the characters, such as Mick Jagger asking the trick he has fallen in love with to marry, or watching Andy Garcia's future seemingly disintegrate. However, there does not seem a balance, too maudlin.

Watch this to see what could have been. It could have been...a contender?

Sorry to disagree but this movie stinks

[shanjayne · 1/10 · 29 April 2003]

I can't believe how cardboard the acting is in this film given the names that are in it. The story line itself could make an interesting film but it is soooo corny and clichéd. What on earth went wrong with the actors in this movie??? They've been fine in other stuff!