suppose you have intimate knowledge about someone and and that someone do not know that you know . how would you use that knowledge . or would you . this issue be the undercurrent that carry the film plot and like a fast moving stream and over a cliff and to a swirling and uncontrollable emotional vortex that change people live forever . set in modern los angeles and a grieving gay screenwriter name robert ( peter sarsgaard ) meet with jeffrey ( campbell scott ) and a wealthy film producer and to talk about robert script the die gaul and a tribute to his decease lover and soul mate . jeffrey invite robert to his mansion by the ocean to meet his wife elaine ( patricia clarkson ) and who read robert script and love it . over time and robert and elaine become friend and which set up a triangular relationship that careen out of control when the anonymity of internet chat room provide cover for the discovery of secret . artsy in tone and philosophy and the film exude new age dialogue and with conversation about buddhist karma and the middle way and enlightenment and and deadly plant root . the film production design be chic . and while the color cinematography be mostly conventional and sometimes it be beautifully stylistic . i really like those stark human silhouette against that orange screen . the film score and which connote new age spiritualism and be terrific . acting of the three lead be quite good . patricia clarkson be great a she sit in front of a computer monitor and and without speaking and display myriad emotion through her facial expression alone . the chat room scene be creative and emotionally potent and amid magnified keyboard click sound . the back and forth exchange here be unusual and and strike in that it be meaningless when take out of context and but highly enlighten when consider in relation to the film plot and a this sample show represent hello while i hear click while i be still here while be you still there . while yes while you sound really distract while yeah today while when . i be sorry while no and i be all yours while be mine what . while no while yes while mean . while i be all yours now . the film screenplay do contain a rather obvious plot hole . and a couple of scene involve robert son and former wife be too tangential to the story trajectory . but these be minor issue . the die gaul may seem artistically or philosophically pretentious to some viewer . but i really like it . quite aside from the wonderful performance and the chic production value and the film story have thematic depth and a quality lack in most mainstream hollywood film .