The Man From Elysian Fields
BBB
(out of 5)
Andy Garcia plays a novelist whose best work has gone to the bottom of the bargain fiction pile. Having immense trouble supporting his family with his writing, he accepts an offer from a swanky gigolo (Mick Jagger) to work as a male escort for Elysian Fields, a high-class prostitution racket. His star client ends up becoming the lonely wife (Olivia Williams) to a rich and famous writer (James Coburn) who doesn’t mind his spouse getting her physical satisfaction elsewhere. When Coburn realizes Garcia’s talent as a writer, he enlists his services to help finish the book he is writing. The characters are sympathetic, but you’re never really sure what the movie is supposed to be about, and George Hickenlooper’s direction is only halfheartedly devoted to the process. The film features a terrific cameo by Anjelica Huston as Jagger’s sole client who manages to steal his heart and then crush it.
USA, 2001
Directed by George Hickenlooper
Screenplay by Phillip Jayson Lasker
Cinematography by Kramer Morgenthau
Produced by Andy Garcia, David Kronemeyer, Andrew Pfeffer, Donald Zuckerman
Music by Anthony Marinelli
Production Design by Franckie Diago
Costume Design by Matthew Jacobsen
Film Editing by Michael Brown
Film Festivals: TIFF 2001
Cast Tags: Andy Garcia, Anjelica Huston, Asha Siewkumar, Elisa Gallay, Ezra Buzzington, Hannah Sim, James Coburn, Joe Drago, Joe Santos, Joseph Paur, Julian Fleisher, Julianna Margulies, Kerry Li, Laura Meshell, Marianne Muellerleile, Mark Steger, Michael Des Barres, Michael Hughes, Mick Jagger, Olivia Williams, Richard Bradford, Rosalind Chao, Sherman Howard, Sonia Sanz, Susan Barnes, Tommy Perna, Tracey Walter, Xander Berkeley, Yasmin D’Mello
