Starting Out In The Evening (2007)

A once celebrated but long forgotten writer (Frank Langella) is approached by a graduate student (Lauren Ambrose) who wants to do her thesis on his work though her motives remain ambiguous. He reluctantly consents but it slowly turns into a more complex relationship than writer and student. Based on the novel by Brian Morton, director Andrew Wagner's film is first and foremost, a tour de force for Langella. But as good as he is, and he's superb, Langella's performance doesn't overshadow the film's delicate but incisive look at a once great writer in his twilight years. The acute screenplay (by Wagner and Fred Parnes) doesn't rush but takes a leisurely pace which is mandatory for a character driven piece such as this that allows the necessary character development to pull the narrative together. There's a subplot which follows the writer's unmarried daughter (Lili Taylor) whose biological clock is ticking and her relationship with a man (Adrian Lester) who doesn't want children. I suppose this is the kind of film where some people would complain that "nothing happens" but, of course, it's interior rather than exterior. A nice unobtrusive score by Adam Gorgoni.