Until it jumps the tracks near the end, THE DYING GAUL is an interesting and literate film about relationships and suffering. But when it goes to the bad it does so in a big way.<br /><br />Robert is a screenwriter who has written a script called THE DYING GAUL which derives from his own experiences. It's about a gay couple who sees the sculpture The Dying Gaul and how the pain of loss translates across the centuries. Robert has lost his life partner and is still suffering the loss.<br /><br />Jeffrey and Elaine are a very successful couple. He's a Hollywood producer and they live in a mansion which in and of itself makes the film impressive. Jeffery likes Robert's screenplay and offers him a million dollars for it, but with one catch. The film would be big budget and high profile, and to justify that the couple needs to be a man and a woman.<br /><br />To complicate matters, Jeffrey comes on to Robert. Big time.<br /><br />The material at any point could have veered into farce. Instead, writer/director Craig Lucas tries and- for a long time succeeds- in trying to plumb the depth of the characters' souls.<br /><br />Elaine begins to communicate with Robert through an online chat room. She pretends to be a man and, later, a man that Robert has known in the past. And this is where the story starts to unravel.<br /><br />Elaine begins to assume the personality of Robert's late lover and soon convinces him that he's communicating with a ghost, veering awkwardly close to making the story an updated BLYTHE SPIRIT.<br /><br />Eventually Jeffrey casually mentions to Robert how in Woody Allen's CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS a major character seeks to shed himself of an unwanted wife by homicidal means, and soon the project is off the tracks.<br /><br />And in the final scene Lucas has a major character do something so out of character, so irrational, so atypical.... How bad a miscalculation is this plot twist? So bad that Lucas can't bring himself to stage it. Instead, it takes place offstage and is revealed in a phone conversation.<br /><br />Flaws and all, this is still a mature and well thought out film. It's masterfully visualized and is a great vehicle for three talented performers. I'm convinced that fifty years from now film historians will be looking back and wondering why Campbell Scott wasn't a megastar from his first role on. As always his performance is rock solid.<br /><br />It's good to see a well produced film that's made for grownups and isn't a special effects nightmare. Check out THE DYING GAUL.