The Dying Gaul

Peter Sarsgaard plays Robert, a screenwriter who's written a deeply personal script about his lover who died from Aids. Campbell Scott is the slimy Hollywood producer who seduces Robert with money (and his body) in order to get him to rewrite it -- changing one of the main characters to a woman because, "No one's going to see a movie about a dying gay man". Sound interesting? Throw Patricia Clarkson (I swear I fall in love her a little more every time I see her on film) into the mix as the producer's creatively frustrated wife, whose interest in Robert also compels her to seduce him (emotionally) under the guise of another gay male via chat rooms. Soon secrets get shared, tension mounts, and all hell breaks loose.

I'll admit that this film wasn't perfect; I found the stylistic way of presenting the computer chats towards the middle of the film to be kind of distracting, and the ending seemed to leave some people scratching their heads with the odd direction it took -- but overall the dialogue was strong, the story kept my interest, and the acting was pretty amazing (which makes up for a lot, in my opinion).

Before the film, Sarsgaard was awarded The Golden Space Needle Award for Outstanding Achievement in Acting, and he introduced this film saying something about how it was his best...well, maybe not his best film, but definitely one of his best performances (unfortunately, I wasn't taking notes). I think I agree. Although you would have a hard time getting me to say that any of his performances are less than stunning.