The Dying Gaul

Acclaimed playwright Craig Lucas' directing debut is a flawlessly acted adaptation of his own stage play, a cruel tale of Hollywood that veers between the lurid and the mystical with reckless, sometimes thrilling abandon. Struggling screenwriter Robert Sandrich (Peter Sarsgaard) is selling his first script, and he's about to toss his soul into the bargain. Robert has wowed Hollywood producer Jeffrey (Campbell Scott) with "The Dying Gaul," a deeply personal screenplay about a gay couple facing the specter of AIDS that is largely based on the agonizing death of Robert's late lover, Malcolm. But there is one small condition: Would Robert mind changing the sex of one of ...