As with his previous feature, The Big Brass Ring, George Hickenlooper, has brought a beautiful look and an amazing cast to worthy story with The Man From Elysian Fields which made its St. Louis premiere last Saturday.

The story is one of a hack writer, Byron Tiller (Andy Garcia), living in Pasadena, Calif. struggling to support his wife, Dena (Julianna Margulies), and a son. His first novel has flopped and his publisher has rejected his new manuscript; after some reluctance, he takes a job working for Luther Fox (Mick Jagger), who runs the Elysian Fields escort service.

Byron’s first client is Andrea Alcott (Olivia Williams), who turns out to be the wife of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tobias Alcott (James Coburn), a gruff, Hemingway type who’s on his last legs and is limping through a final novel. In short, Byron works with Tobias during the day to make his last book great and for Andrea at night to ease the loneliness Tobias’ gradual death is causing her.

Jagger has again made respectable the title “Mick Jagger, actor.” Although it is a bit unsettling to see how lightly both Luther and Hickenlooper portray prostitution, it seems to work well in the beginning, as the audience is drawn into the business right with Byron.

As the movie continues, that original image of Luther as happy-go-lucky seems to work against Hickenlooper’s attempts to portray Luther as regretful. Jagger just about swings enough sympathy to make his case, but his narration at the end of the film seems to suggest an indifference to his own demise–which, if nothing else, makes him less believable.

By the end of the movie, despite a teriffic performance, Jagger is just not as tragic as he is supposed to be.

The regret does succeed as a devise for telling Byron’s story, as he pleads guilty and momentarily insane at the same time–and we believe him. Hickenlooper doesn’t simply drop the ending of the movie in the audience’s lap, he crafts the downfall as well as he crafted the build-up.

This movie is in many ways an Eyes Wide Shut that we can believe. Byron doesn’t simply wake from a dream and receive forgiveness.

Not that either film is less true, but the forgiveness at the end of Elysian Fields is more powerful, both because the love at the beginning–thanks to a wonderful performance by Margulies–is so genuine, and the reunion is not complete.

The entire process of breakdown and recovery is so difficult that Hickenlooper cannot even capture it all in a single film–he must simply use his conclusion to imply what may be.

Coburn–who died this Monday–is wonderful as a rough veteran writer who still retains a passion for his work and his physical presence is so full that a few times he even makes the audience jump. He gives a final performance any actor would be proud to leave behind.

As for Tobias’ wife, Williams seems better suited to play the mature yet innocent Rosemary Cross in Rushmore, rather than the lovable-then-conniving Andrea Alcott.

Aside from a few moving scenes with Garcia, Williams’s character becomes so cold that she seems to lose her depth–almost cutting the connections one makes with her in the earlier scenes.

The Man From Elysian Fields will open for a limited engagement at the Tivoli on Nov. 27.