Main Cast: Andy Garcia, Mick Jagger, Julianna Margulies, Olivia Williams, James Coburn, Anjelica Huston
Release Year: 2001
Country: US
Run Time: 105 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
George Hickenlooper directs this psychological drama about an impoverished writer lost in a world of money, power, and male escorts. Though happily married with a young child, Byron Tiller (Andy Garcia) is struggling to make ends meet as a novelist. His last work, called "Hitler's Child," had an ignoble run in the bookstore bargain bins and his editor is not interested in his latest work about migrant workers. One day, he is approached by a dapper Brit named Luther Fox (Mick Jagger) who actually read Tiller's last opus. Luther explains that he runs an escort agency named Elysian Fields, which caters to rich women looking for intelligent companionship. Desperate for any kind of income source, Tiller takes the job while keeping the whole thing a secret from his loving wife (Julianna Margulies). He soon is rubbing elbows with the beautiful wife (Olivia Williams) of an aging Pulitzer Prize-winning writer. Gradually, Tiller finds himself immersed in this strange new world that he cannot quite understand, much less explain to his spouse. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
Review
The Man From Elysian Fields is a quiet character study that represents some of the best work its participants have ever done. The stellar lead is Andy Garcia, who plays a best-selling novelist who can't break through his writer's block and turns to work at an escort service when his bills begin to overwhelm him. Garcia plays the tormented artist, the concerned father, and the embarrassed escort with equal aplomb, and we feel that his character is a real living, breathing person. The same can't be said for Mick Jagger, in a rare acting turn, who comes across as a bit stiff, but being who he is, does lend a certain air of decadence mixed with class on the virtue of his persona alone. Jagger's scene with his long-standing client, played by an uncredited Anjelica Huston, in which he professes his love for her, is a very remarkable piece of acting and one wishes he could have extended it to the rest of his performance. The real pleasure of the film, perhaps because it turned out to be one of his last roles, is James Coburn as a famous writer who hires Garcia to pleasure his wife (Olivia Williams) and eventually takes him on as a collaborator. This character is made all the more poignant because he is dying, and with Coburn's fate known at this point, it lends an extra aura of sympathy to him. Nevertheless, the man is in top form and the scenes where he and Garcia battle through their collaboration are excellent. Moreover, the film has a rich and colorful look to it that works very, very well in conjunction with the set designs, particularly the formerly opulent house that Coburn and Williams occupy. The cinematography is most definitely a part of this film to be consciously enjoyed. ~ Dan Friedman, All Movie Guide
George Hickenlooper - Director, Anthony Marinelli - Composer (Music Score), Andrew D.T. Pfeffer - Producer, Andy Garcia - Producer, Donald Zuckerman - Producer, Philip Jayson Lasker - Screenwriter
The Man from Elysian Fields is a psycho-sexual drama directed by George Hickenlooper.
Reception
Although panned by many critics[1], it was hailed as "One of the Best Films of 2002!"[2] by critic Roger Ebert. The film is directed by George Hickenlooper.
