The Man from Elysian Fields (2001)

Director:

George Hickenlooper

Writer (WGA):

Phillip Jayson Lasker (written by)

Release Date:

28 November 2002 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Wealth affords the ultimate extravagance.

Plot:

A failed novelist's inability to pay the bills strains relations with his wife and leads him to work at an escort service where he becomes entwined with a wealthy woman whose husband is a successful writer.

Plot Keywords:

Escort | Novelist | Novel | Writer | Escort Service

Cast

Andy Garcia	...	Byron
Mick Jagger	...	Luther
Julianna Margulies	...	Dena
Olivia Williams	...	Andrea
James Coburn	...	Alcott
Michael Des Barres	...	Nigel
Richard Bradford	...	Edward Rodgers
Anjelica Huston	...	Jennifer Adler
Xander Berkeley	...	Virgil Koster
Sherman Howard	...	Paul Pearson
Joe Santos	...	Domenico
Susan Barnes	...	Attractive Woman
Tracey Walter	...	Bartender
Asha Siewkumar	...	Receptionist
Kerry Li	...	Restaurant Patron

MPAA:

Rated R for language and sexual content.

Runtime:

106 min | Germany:97 min (TV version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:L | Finland:K-11 | Netherlands:6 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Germany:12 | New Zealand:M | Singapore:NC-16 | USA:R (certificate #38183)

Filming Locations:

Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

CineSon Entertainment

Trivia:

The credit card that Luther Fox uses to pay for taking Jennifer Adler out was George Hickenlooper's own debit card. You can read his name on screen (he has since cancelled the card).

Goofs:

Continuity: At the book signing near the end of the film, Byron signs the name "Georgette" in the book for the woman named Yasmine. The next woman in line reveals her name to be Georgette.

Quotes:

Luther Fox: I don't know why they call them outstanding checks... as if not being paid is somehow a good thing.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Making 'Blood Work' (2002) (V)

profoundly interesting film

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.