There are plenty of reasons to watch this film. Anthony Hopkins putting in another decent performance, Nicole Kidman playing seriously against type in a slightly raunchy role, Gary Sinise and Ed Harris as part of the supporting cast. As a whole it doesn't quite work, but it has some kind of a dreamy quality to it. Anthony Hopkins plays a professor at a university who resigns after he is accused of making a racist slur. His wife promptly dies, a heart attack relating to stress from the incident. He then befriends Gary Sinise's character, a divorced author who has writers block and he also starts having an affair with Nicole Kidman's character, a working class woman with several poorly paid jobs. Her ex-husband, played by Ed Harris, has a history of beating her and has had spells in prison. Anthony Hopkins is unfased about this, enjoying a last passionate affair with a far younger, exciting, beautiful woman. Of course it all ends in tragedy and with such a great cast you could wonder if in different hands this could have been better. It is still very watchable, but I am unsure if it would warrant repeated viewings. One to rent maybe.