The Man from a Faustian Fable

Legendary rocker Mick Jagger does the narration and plays a major role as an owner of an upscale escort service in this morality film, The Man From Elysian Fields, which is a story that is similar to Goethe's Faust.

Byron Tiller (Andy Garcia) is a struggling writer. He's married and has a small child. Byron's latest novel is not selling well and his editor is not pleased with the current novel he's working on.

Byron meets a cunning man named Luther Fox (Mick Jagger) while in a bar. Luther has read Byron's last published book, which surprises Byron. They sit together and chat. Byron tells Luther a little about his career woes. Luther says if he wants to make more money, contact him. He gives Byron his business card, titled Elysian Fields with the phone number.

Days go by and Byron is going nowhere with his writing career. He decides to contact Luther. Luther offers him a job as an escort. Byron didn't realize Luther was in the escort service business. He goes home, pondering the offer. The next day, Byron accepts the job, and keeps his new venture a secret from his wife Dena (Julianna Margulies).

Byron gets a regular client soon. Her name is Andrea (Olivia Williams), who is the wife of a best-selling, Pulitzer prize winning author named Tobias Allcott (James Coburn). As Byron continues to see Andrea, he becomes friends with Tobias. Later, Tobias surprises Byron with a very lucrative offer.

Dena only knows Byron is working with Tobias. She hates the fact that Byron is neglecting her and their son.

A subplot has Luther escorting a long-time client in his business; her name is Jennifer (Angelica Huston), who is the only woman Luther escorts personally. He's in love with Jennifer.

Mick Jagger gives a terrific performance; his character Luther has a rather satanic-like aura, but later a tender side of him is revealed when he's at a restaurant with character Jennifer; Jagger's best scene in the film, and it's wonderful! Terrifically well-written scene. All other actors play their roles very well. The directing is great and the script overall is good. The cinematography shows a nice combination of quaint and contemporary scenes. The mood in the film is somber, and the movie appears noir-like, but it does have plenty of sophisticated humor.

I enjoyed watching The Man From Elysian Fields. It's a rare film that depicts morality in an intelligent, objective way.