Please don't let comments from confused viewers stop you from seeing this amazing film! It's been fixed! :)<br /><br />Spoilers follow...but nothing that will ruin your enjoyment of the film, I promise. :)<br /><br />Like a number of the people who have offered comments here, I saw a very early "preview" version of this film, and was left scratching my head a little bit. I enjoyed it, but was a wee bit confused about how exactly Elaine knew so many of Robert's secrets -- enabling her to convince him she was the ghost of Robert's dead lover. But tonight in New York City I attended the film's official premier (complete with spotlights and movie stars... very exciting!) -- and some small but very important changes have clarified the plot. <br /><br />Craig Lucas' film directing debut is a revelation. He has created a very grown-up, intriguing, complex, fascinating story and coaxed spectacular performances out of some of the best actors on the scene today. (Lucas has directed stage productions before -- and done an artful, deeply moving job -- so he's not a totally-brand-new director.) He has done spectacular work on stage over the years, and now he is beginning to apply his genius to film work. I believe we're going to see much more amazing work from him. (He has written some terrific movies in the past -- such as Secret Lives of Dentists -- but he is relatively new to directing.)<br /><br />The three lead actors here are amazing. Each of them can communicate more without speaking than a lot of actors can achieve with hours of dialog. I've loved Campbell Scott ever since "Longtime Companion," and his mature performance here fulfills the promise he showed in that film (also written by Lucas) over a decade ago. Peter Sarrsgaard veers from sweet to evil, from happy-go-lucky to seductive, with great ease, creating a likable character who does some very unlikable things -- like many real, flawed human beings. And Patricia Clarkson is entirely believable throughout the movie. That may seem like a simple thing, but not many actors can consistently carry it off. I believed what she was saying and doing at every moment. Without her steady performance, the movie could have really stumbled -- especially at a point where the viewer has to buy into a slightly implausible situation. She pulls it off. Robin Bartlett has a small role as a wise-cracking, cynical nanny, and is quite amusing in it -- much like her short but funny turn in another of my favorites, "Postcards From the Edge."<br /><br />"The Dying Gaul" isn't the type of movie that does well in wide release, for a number of reasons. It's perhaps too much of an "art film" to be widely viewed by casual movie fans. <br /><br />(And that title, while totally appropriate once you see the film, is a little too "high-brow" to do the movie any good. At least the filmmakers have the self-deprecating sense to make a couple of jokes about that, during the film -- Jeffry says no one will see a movie with that title.... But unfortunately, he's right.)<br /><br />So, unless you live in a major city (or unless it gets the Oscar attention it richly deserves) you may not see it in a theater. But thankfully we live in an age when great movies can find an audience on home video -- and I predict that's what will happen here.