Gabriel is a man who on the surface has it all-successful professional life as an architect, a beautiful wife, Annie, and a devoted young daughter, Elizabeth. But slowly it dawns on him that he is not really happy. Gabriel decides that he wants to write a play about the sorry state of his life. He quits his job, gets a pushy literary agent friend to represent him and starts writing. Although his marriage ends in a divorce, the play is success and although his life is different than it was, he is happier.
Acting
Timothy Hutton's nervous breakdown energy is uncomfortably real.
Writing
Meta-narrative that bites its own tail deliciously.
Direction
Brooks Branch stages theater within theater without collapsing.
Director
Brooks Branch
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Aileen Quinn, the school secretary, played the original Annie on Broadway—making this her first film in 25 years.
The film mirrors its own plot: Brooks Branch wrote this after his own mid-career pivot from advertising, essentially making Gabriel his own self-aware avatar.
US
