The Man From Elysian Fields (2002) Movie Information:

The Man From Elysian Fields (2002) Directed by: George Hickenlooper The Man From Elysian Fields (2002) Written by: Philip Lasker The Man From Elysian Fields (2002) Cast: Andy Garcia, Mick Jagger, Julianna Margulies, Olivia Williams, James Coburn, Anjelica Huston, Michael Des Barres, Richard Bradford

The Man From Elysian Fields (2002) U.S. Distributor: Samuel Goldwyn Films The Man From Elysian Fields (2002) U.K. Distributor: Not available at this time

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The Man From Elysian Fields (2002) Synopsis:

Byron Tiller, happily married with a young child, is a writer whose last novel has ended up in the remainder bins. Down on his luck and struggling to make ends meet, he keeps bashing away, refusing to admit that perhaps he is not that good. One day, at wit's end and feeling sorry for himself, he meets someone who has actually read his book: a rather elegant looking Englishman who introduces himself as Luther Fox. Luther runs an escort agency Elysian Fields, which provides extremely wealthy women with attractive, intelligent dates. Desperate for any job- and Luther guarantees good pay and convinces him that it can be only temporary -Byron reluctantly agrees, keeping the whole thing hidden from his wife. He soon finds himself face-to-face with an extremely attractive woman, whose aging husband is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist grappling with a novel that may be his last. Before long, Byron finds himself immersed in a world that he finds almost impossible to believe and even harder to explain.

The Man From Elysian Fields (2002) Movie Review:

The elegance and real emotion in The Man from Elysian Fields is what drives it to be a very admirable film. The outstanding cast, which includes the late actor James Coburn, all complement the smart script from writer Phillip Jayson Lasker.

Through a narration, the audience is introduced to Byron Tiller (Garcia), who is a writer that's first book was published, but hardly sold. After spending many years writing away from his nightmares of failure, Byron's new novel is a total embarrassment to his publisher. Byron's muse is his loving wife Dena (Margulies) and his baby boy, Nathaniel (of course named after Nathaniel Hawthorne). Totally broke and turned down by one job after another, Byron causally has lonely drinks at a local bar. This is where he meets the sophisticated and pleasant Luther Fox (Jagger), who runs Elysian Fields, Inc. "Elysian Fields is an escort service, that tend to the wounds of lonely women in need of emotional as well as spiritual solace," Luther tells the unemployed writer. Luther gives Byron a rundown of his strengths and weaknesses and ultimately offers him a job as an escort.

After a few weeks of contemplation, Byron desperately accepts the job and begins to continuously lie to his wife of his whereabouts at night. Fox sets Byron up to escort the young and beautiful Andrea Allcott (Williams), who is the wife to the aging and dying Pulitzer-Prize winning author Tobias Allcott (Coburn). Tobias accepts Byron being his wife's escort, to keep her happy, rather than her going out and cheating on him. Andrea, on the other hand, does love Tobias more than anything, but uses his money and power to satisfy her pleasurable needs.

As the triangle of companionship begins between the young wife, the dying author and the escort writer, Tobias asks for Byron to help him with his new book. Byron quickly accepts and begins to spend more time away from his wife and child. While Byron truly believes his actions are the best intentions for Dena and Nathaniel, he is actually pushing them farther away.

This is a sharp little movie that is so witty and proper, even though it is about a moonlighting gigolo. It is almost like the film has its own manners and values, as well as a hidden greatness.

The script by Phillip Jayson Lasker sets the film's tone. Byron himself is a character that we care for, even though he is doing unworthy sins, but in his eyes it is what must be done for the sake of his family. Tobias Allcott and Luther Fox have to be two of the best crafted supporting characters put on the screen this year. They are both confident, but also damaged internally and of course they can't make wrong decisions. A character trait is that Tobias is always in his slippers and robes, while Luther is never seen out of suit. The subplots also work effectively, especially with the shaping of Luther's character and conscience. What is really superb about the sequencing of the script is its ending. The closing ten minutes of this film could have been cliché filled, but instead the ending is original and most of all acceptable.

Director George Hickelooper's choices are as richly delivered as is the script. He uses a few slow motion moments to express Byron's frustration, but his key is showing his actors emotions without dialogue. There are many moments in the film where the characters are just thinking and letting the incidents set in. Hickenlooper gives the actors plenty of freedom to explore this realm.

Andy Garcia tackles the character of Byron Tiller and once again proves he can play an emotional character and drive a picture with his on-screen persona. Julianna Marguiles delivers her best work as Tiller's questioning muse-like wife. The other actresses of the film, which include Olivia Williams as Andrea Allcott and Angelica Huston as Luther's love interest, deliver very commendable performances in each of their supporting roles. Rolling Stones rocker Mick Jagger is just irresistible to like as the sharp Luther Fox. It was an interesting, but smart choice to cast Jagger, who is a lot better, an actor than shown in his previous work in the sci-fi thriller Freejack (1992). Lastly, the late James Coburn is brilliant as the aging writing genius Tobias Allcott. Mr. Coburn was a great actor and his performance in this film was stellar; he is a legend that will never be forgotten.

There are some brief moments of despair with a few of the character's actions that I will not discuss due to telling a spoiler of the film. However, The Man from Elysian Fields is a gem of a film that has a unique, but great cast in some very unlikely roles. If you get the opportunity to see this film, don't pass it up, it is cleverly enjoyable.

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The Man From Elysian Fields (2002) review written by: Bailey Henderson