Julianna Margulies in The Man from Elysian Fields (2001)

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The Man from Elysian Fields has a ludicrous fairy-tale premise. Andy Garcia plays a writer who can no longer support his young family, so he takes a job as a male escort in a group run by an elegant Englishman (Mick Jagger !!??). Garcia's first significant client happens to be the wife of a dying Pulitzer Prize winner, kind of a latter-day Hemingway (played by James Coburn). As Hollywood would have it, Coburn Hemmingway has been working on a novel for 12 years, and it completely stinks. He invites Andy Garcia to read it, react to it, and eventually to help him re-write it. Oh, yeah, and Garcia has to screw Coburn's beautiful young wife (Olivia Williams) as well.

Yeah that could happen.

At any rate, Garcia gets so involved in the life of Coburn Hemingway that he forgets why he took the escort job in the first place, and starts ignoring his family.

I know that sounds contrived, but this is a genuinely good movie. The performances are first-rate. Garcia, Coburn and even Jagger are all surprisingly restrained, and do a terrific job. They are ably supported by Julianna Margulies as Garcia's suffering wife and Olivia Williams as Coburn's slippery wife. The script is literate and complex, has some surprising plot twists, and some clever dialogue. The Garcia character is the "star", and he is a sensitive guy, but he is also a very weak person who can never seem to do either the right thing or the smart thing. In fact, none of the characters (except maybe Margulies) are very good or very bad, and are thus very much like the rest of us.

Because of the honest, complex characterizations and sparkling dialogue, the movie manages to overcome its silly premise and delivers some very good moments. This film is a C+. I liked it better than that, but I guess its non-existent box office appeal refutes any argument I could offer about crossover appeal. Ignore the premise. It is a strong niche offering if you like quiet, thoughtful, literate movies.

Critics Vote: Widely divergent scores, averaging about three stars. For example, Ebert 4/4, but Entertainment Weekly only a C.

IMDb Summary: IMDb voters score it 5.9/10.

Box Office: It never reached more than 50 screens, and finished with about a million and a half dollars.

DVD Info: Commentary by director George Hickenlooper, writer Philip Jayson Lasker, and actor Andy Garcia. Making of featurette; Deleted scenes; Outtakes; Music video; Widescreen anamorphic format, 1.85:l.


Written by: Scoopy …courtesy of Scoopy.net