It's difficult to come to terms with the idea that the work you do often defines the person you are. And although some are able to find a disconnect between or a compartmentalization of their professional and personal lives, for most of us it's just not that easy. Ask any aging artist at heart who makes their living as a waiter, and you'll immediately see what I mean. And most of the time, even if you see yourself as an individual with higher or "better" ambitions than the work that earns you a paycheck, the difference to the average person is nominal at best. In their eyes, you become ¾ and are ¾ what you tend to do best.

That's part of a valuable lesson learned by a down-on-his-luck author turned high-priced hustler in The Man from Elysian Fields, one of the best commercial movies of the year-a literate, absorbing film, loaded with sophistication and so well-acted, it's a film to savor.

Andy Garcia, long-since wrongly discarded as a viable Hollywood leading man, plays Byron Tiller, the author of a failed novel on the verge of publishing his second book. When the book deal falls through ("no one wants to waste their time looking for deeper meaning") and Byron's hand to mouth artist's lifestyle backs him into a corner, with the responsibilities of a wife (Julianna Margulies) and child, he finds himself with limited career options and fewer financial resources.

Enter Luther Fox (a flamboyant, smart Mick Jagger), proprietor of Elysian Fields, an exclusive, elite escort agency. Fox immediately sees hustler potential in Tiller, and before long the hesitant yet desperate wordsmith discards his high-minded ideals to become Elysian Fields' hottest new property. He also becomes the personal plaything of beautiful, wealthy socialite Andrea Alcott (Olivia Williams) and her ailing novelist tycoon husband, Tobias Alcott (a salty, inspired James Coburn).

When the aging septuagenarian scribe engages Tiller to help him co-write his final novel, he becomes deeply involved with the writer and his wife, servicing both in different capacities. Gradually, his moral illusions give way to delusions of grand success, as he navigates his way through the needs of the writer, the writer's wife and his own wife and family. Of course, the two worlds collide with unfortunate consequences.

Director George Hickenlooper has a fine feel for both worlds Byron finds himself torn between, and mounts his film with cool sophistication, present in every frame, performance and line of dialogue. There are many standout scenes, including one beautifully sad moment that has Jagger's Fox pouring out his love to a long-time client, smoothly played by Angelica Huston. He shows great courage in this scene, asking a wealthy client to marry him, when he is, after all, a hustler. That he has romantically misread her signals leads to a devastating rebuff that Jagger plays so tenderly, it ranks as one of the best scenes in the movie.

As written by Phillip Jayson Lasker the screenplay is perceptive and intelligent, and some of the more memorable lines include:

Andy Garcia has always been an actor with easy access to his emotions, whether they're burning anger (The Godfather III) or pained melancholy (When a Man Loves a Woman). In The Man from Elysian Fields, he perfectly captures Byron's early personal and literary ideals. The tricky part of his fine performance is in how we watch Byron gradually abandon his lofty moral code in the name of success, and then painfully try to re-build it once everything comes crashing down around him.

There are a few different endings to the film, the last of which moves the film and Byron to a more self-aware, up-beat conclusion. I could have done without the last several scenes, which exist to lend Tiller a critical, full-circle character arc. But the ending I would have preferred is intact about ten minutes before the close of the film.

Byron has lost his novel, his family and his self-respect. He's just met a new client in a hotel lobby. After bumping into another Elysian Fields escort, he realizes the guy's client is his own now-estranged wife. It's a sad, knowing re-union, and a moment of such irony and truth that everything in the film just seems to click. The characters have been followed to their logical conclusions. The cards have been played, and it's a game everyone has lost. But the film doesn't stop there, and continues on to a still different place, maybe a bit less honest but satisfying nonetheless.

The best thing I can say about The Man from Elysian Fields is that it's populated with literate, intelligent adults, difficult life decisions and much heart and truth. These are interesting, well-written characters, directed with sleek intelligence. It's one of the year's most entertaining movies.