"You can do whatever you want to do as long as you don't call it what it is." - Campbell Scott as Jeffrey in "The Dying Gaul"

The set-up for "The Dying Gaul" seems quite rife with possibilities for an interesting story. The plot, as synopsized most commonly, concerns a gay, struggling, Hollywood writer who finally sells a script to a major studio. The script, called "The Dying Gaul" is about his relationship with his lover, who has recently died of AIDS. It's 1995 and the studio is willing to pay him one million dollars for the piece. All they want is for him to rewrite it and change the lover from male to female.

This is a wonderful idea. This film could go so many places. Sadly, where it does ultimately go is nearly as homophobic as the supposed studio in this piece is. The gay guy becomes as shady as the heterosexuals he comes in contact with.

The piece, based on a play, revolves mainly around three characters: The scripter, the studio exec, and his wife. We soon learn that the exec begins to have an affair with the scriptwriter while the wife, herself a screenwriter who gave up the business to be a mother, becomes the gay man's friend.

To separate the characters from the actors who play them is quite difficult to do because the thespians here are quite amazing at inhabiting their roles. Peter Sarsgaard will never fail us in a movie I do not believe and he plays the writer here with the sort of integrity and thoughtfulness that the role requires. His one misstep is to dress exactly like Tom Hanks does in "Philadelphia" as this movie is discussed in the film. Sarsgaard has an amazing scene where he cries hysterically that is one of the most intense and unusual moments to be seen in a film this year. He really is an amazing actor.

Campbell Scott, who has become one of our greatest independent actors, is ferocious and edgy as the closeted exec. Scott is able to give his character hard angles and dark intensity yet still keep him likeable and compelling.

And Patricia Clarkson is simply perfect as the wife. Clarkson spends a lot of time in skimpy clothing in the film yet her sexuality is seen as another part of her inherent hardness as well. This woman is intelligent, witty, loving and concerned and yet we see a dark side emerge within her that does not seem unrealistic in any way. These roles are complex and deeply focused and any lesser actors in any of these roles would not be able to make this film work. It is because of the actors and how they create these characters that we able to not only care about them but also care about them when the darker corners of their psyche are revealed.

But "The Dying Gaul" ultimately fails not because of acting or complex characters doing challenging things but because of a script device that becomes quite trite and lackluster quite quickly. In the film based on a play, writer/director Craig Lucas uses the device of on-line chatting to expose much of his story and much of his characters' true natures. While this works at times, it ultimately becomes dull and typical and becomes harder and harder to sit through as the "chatting" goes on longer and longer each time the device is used.

Bobby Bukowski is the cinematographer and this is probably the most lush and intense film he has ever shot. He does a fantastic job. And Lucas uses the glorious and repetitious music of Steven Reich to score this film and the effect is dazzling. Reich's music focuses this film and elevates it to the most artistic of achievements. In using the composer's work, Lucas becomes the first prominent American filmmaker to incorporate the legend's compositions in a major Hollywood film. It is an important moment. Even better, Lucas also drops some hip hop tunes in the piece (presumably at the insistence of the studio) and the Reich vs. Hip Hop ideal becomes the perfect metaphor for the screenwriter vs. the Hollywood machine that the plot attempts to showcase. It's a clever inside joke to use two such diverse elements in the soundtrack of his film.

But ultimately, "The Dying Gaul" is just to dark and dissatisfying to recommend. There are no heroes here and no villains. We like the characters but find it impossible to root for any of them. And while Sarsgaard doesn't exactly commit "murder" here, he comes close, making him the latest in a long line of studio films that insist on showing a gay character as a criminal or a victim. Then again, if we truly believe this film, should we expect anything less?

Notes:

Also with Robin Bartlett.

Scott is also a producer.

In addition to "Philadelphia," "Tootsie," "Silence of the Lambs," and "Crimes and Misdemeanors" among others are mentioned.

The film is dedicated "For Tony Kushner."

The film debuted at Sundance in 2005 where it was nominated for an award. Strand will begin running the film theatrically throughout the U.S. in November of 2005.

Viewed at an advanced screening during the Austin Film Festival at the Paramount Theater in October 2005 with my friend Johnny Oh!.

Report Card

Script: C+

Acting: A+

Cinematography\Lighting: A+

Special Effects\Make Up: A+

Music: A+

Final Grade: B-