Click to read the article
The Dying Gaul (2005)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
Reviews Counted:66
Fresh:32
Rotten:34
Average Rating:5.7/10
Consensus: Though it has a fine cast, The Dying Gaul's plot feels calculated and too intellectualized.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for strong sexual content and language.
Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:Nov 4, 2005 Limited
Box Office: $278,160
Synopsis: Playwright/screenwriter Craig Lucas (The Secret Lives of Dentists, Longtime Companion, Prelude to a Kiss) makes an audacious directorial debut with The Dying Gaul, a fiercely original psychological... Playwright/screenwriter Craig Lucas (The Secret Lives of Dentists, Longtime Companion, Prelude to a Kiss) makes an audacious directorial debut with The Dying Gaul, a fiercely original psychological thriller based on his play of the same name. Part Sunset Boulevard, part Greek tragedy, The Dying Gaul is a tale of lust, power, corruption, betrayal and revenge set in the seductive world of the Hollywood elite. Peter Sarsgaard stars as Robert Sandrich, a fledgling screenwriter who has been living on the fringes, writing spec script after spec script to no avail. His life changes when he is offered a million dollars for his latest and most personal work - "The Dying Gaul," the raw, autobiographical story of the death of his lover. But there's a catch - the studio thinks the project will be much more commercially viable if Robert will only change the dead lover to a woman. Making the offer is Jeffrey (Campbell Scott), a smooth, ruthless and sexually avaricious studio executive who seduces Robert with the intoxicating Hollywood cocktail of power, money and sex. Patricia Clarkson stars as Jeffrey's wife, Elaine, a former screenwriter now ensconced in a Malibu villa with children, a housekeeper, and time on her hands. She brings the grieving Robert into the family fold, drawn by his talent and his pain. When Robert confides that he finds solace, both sexual and emotional, in the ghost-like world of chat rooms, the curious Elaine meets him there anonymously. As their online dialogue unfolds, she discovers that Robert and her husband are having an affair. The shock of that revelation - and the unexpected way she responds - sets off a dangerous series of deceptions, confessions and betrayals. Never sliding into the conventional histrionics of the thriller, The Dying Gaul is infinitely more complex, as the lines between predator and prey, sadist and victim shift and blur. Visually stunning, The Dying Gaul contrasts the dazzling California sunlight that bleaches out the palm-lined movie studios and oceanfront estates with the cold and detached world of cell phones and computers. What emerges is a truly original postmodern Hollywood noir, unsettling, unpredictable and morally explosive. As John Cooper writes in the 2005 Sundance Film Festival program, "Lucas has honed a precise, interlocking plot that exploits his scalpel-sharp irony. The Dying Gaul will push you to the edge of your seat, simultaneously unnerving you with its complexity and frightening you with its believability." --© Hole Digger Studios [More]
Starring: Patricia Clarkson, Campbell Scott, Peter Sarsgaard, Robin Bartlett
Starring: Patricia Clarkson, Campbell Scott, Peter Sarsgaard, Robin Bartlett, Bill Camp, Thomas Jay Ryan
Director: Craig Lucas
Director: Craig Lucas
Screenwriter: Craig Lucas
Producer: Campbell Scott, George Van Buskirk
Composer: Steve Reich
Studio: Strand Releasing
Get This Movie
Reviews for The Dying Gaul
Sound silly? Well, it is, plus passé (as so many techno-concerned conceits soon become), self-indulgent and nihilistically nasty in tone.
finds it difficult to infuse humanity into a character who essentially functions as a dramatic device
Lucas' use of chat rooms as a plot-moving device is pretty hackneyed, and when the story takes a thriller-like turn in the third act, it feels really forced.
The Dying Gaul has the tight, nailed-down structure of a good play. But it's the actors who really lift the movie above the shortcomings of its plot.
Verbally well-matched, morally ambiguously fascinating together, they are exciting to watch.* All three leads give extraordinary performances.
Almost every time Gaul threatens to be overwhelmed by its maudlin tendencies and need to be 'about' something, it's rescued by its delicious sense of cruelty.
The Dying Gaul isn't dead on arrival. But its death throes are only as interesting as the actors, characters and dialogue can make them.
It's his heavy-handed and often ludicrous plotting that is the film's downfall.
The one thing Greek tragedy shouldn't desperately want is any kind of catharsis.
The film plays for keeps: It hurts and it doesn't back away from messy questions about art, commerce and conscience.
Campbell Scott, Peter Sarsgaard and Patricia Clarkson fill the disconcerting material with measured, subtle performances that bring home what's not being said.
By the end of the film, relationships have turned so corrosive that the characters leave an ugly aftertaste in the mind of the viewer.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 14% 14% | The Ugly Truth |
| 98% 98% | Up |
| 36% 36% | G.I. Joe: The Rise of … |
| 52% 52% | The Taking of Pelham 1… |
| 45% 45% | Ice Age: Dawn of the D… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 32% 32% | Terminator Salvation |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| 86% 86% | A Christmas Tale |
| 60% 60% | Paper Heart |
RT On Current TV
DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
CloseSponsored Links
Around The Network
- The Dying Gaul at Rotten Tomatoes
- The Dying Gaul at IGN
- The Dying Gaul at AskMen
Fresh Links
Featured

The director talks about puppetry perfection and his film, Fantastic Mr. Fox

Hollywood.com ponders whether or not an animated film could win Best Picture.

Richard Corliss previews the season's best offerings and hottest tickets.

The AV Club's Mike D'Angelo airs his beefs with Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men.
Promos

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!



Top Critic



