When jazzman Izzy Maurer (Harvey Keitel) gets shot and loses his left lung, he is forced to face the future without his saxophone, without the music that was his life. When he stumbles over a dead man in an alley and brings home a briefcase, the small rock he finds inside it changes everything. The... [More]

When jazzman Izzy Maurer (Harvey Keitel) gets shot and loses his left lung, he is forced to face the future without his saxophone, without the music that was his life. When he stumbles over a dead man in an alley and brings home a briefcase, the small rock he finds inside it changes everything. The glowing, floating stone has a power that overwhelms Izzy and Celia (Mira Sorvino), leading them through a series of events over which they seemingly have no control. Novelist Paul Auster's first solo directing effort (he previously codirected BLUE IN THE FACE with Wayne Wang) is a moving character study of a group of fascinating individuals trying to survive life in New York City. The fine cast features stellar performances by the boldly understated Keitel as well as Sorvino, Gina Gershon, Mandy Patinkin, Willem Dafoe, and Vanessa Redgrave, as a former star actress turned director. [Less]