This psychodrama marks the directorial debut of playwright and screenwriter Craig Lucas (The Secret Lives of Dentists, Longtime Companion, Prelude to a Kiss). He has set this gripping story of power, lust, betrayal and revenge in Hollywood, where people are wheeling and dealing every day. Robert (Peter Sarsgaard) is an emotionally fragile writer who is still reeling from the loss of his lover and agent who died of AIDS. Deep in debt, he takes his screenplay to Jeffrey (Campbell Scott), a studio development executive who loves the script. But Jeffrey knows the theme of a gay couple will not go over well with shopping mall movie-going public. He wants Robert to change the lead character from Maurice to Maggie. To make his point more clear, he says: "nobody goes to the movies to have a bad time or to learn anything." Robert desperately needs the one million dollars offered for his script, "The Dying Gaul," but is angered by his own willingness to sell out.

His relationship with Jeffrey takes a surprising turn when this power hungry executive seduces him. He and his wife Elaine (Patricia Clarkson) live in Malibu and have two children. She is a screenwriter herself, and after reading "The Dying Gaul," she is convinced that he should not change anything. Elaine's friendship with him grows and when she learns that he has a penchant for Internet chat rooms, she tracks him down and taking the name Archangel learns about his affair with Jeffrey. This sets into motion some startling events that propel all three of these individuals on a dangerous course of betrayal and revenge.

Quite a number of recent movies (Closer, Must Love Dogs) have used computers as a device to reveal complications in relationships. Robert believes that Internet chat rooms are "like life after death" and filled with "disembodied souls." While the chilling finale to this psychodrama comes across as a bit too excessive, Lucas does manage to make it clear that our primal emotions can get the best of us and lead to tragic consequences.


Special features include deleted scenes and an alternate ending.