The Sunset Limited

Nothing captures dialogue and the free exchange of ideas quite like a stage play. It is a place where the written and spoken word is treated with reverence, a place where your imagination plays as big a role in telling the story as the sets and performances. At it's best, theater informs, entertains, and invigorates.

That's what makes adaptations to film so difficult. Few get it right. For every "Doubt" — an exceptional adaptation that featured incredible performances and preserved the spirit of the stage play — there is a "For Colored Girls" — a film that stuck so close to its source material that it became a false cinematic world.

Cormac McCarthy is one of the greatest America writers. His novel, "No Country For Old Men," stands as one of the best I've read, and was adapted into one of the best films of the last decade. With "The Sunset Limited," director/star Tommy Lee Jones captures the spirit and elegance of McCarthy's words in a brisk, dynamic made-for-HBO film.

I have subscribed to HBO for nearly a decade. While I don't always appreciate the original programming I'm offered, the network isn't afraid to take a chance on an out-of-the-box idea. Such is "The Sunset Limited." It's a 90-minute adaptation of a stage play that features two characters and one location. It's two men, Mr. White (Jones) and Mr. Black (Samuel L. Jackson) debating for an hour and a half. And, more interesting than that, it's two men debating about the veracity of the Scriptures and the importance of faith.

That is not a gambit many studios or networks would take, and it's not a film that appeals to a mass audience. But, thankfully, HBO isn't most studios. I have always had a fascination with religious debates and themes in the arts, so I was riveted and fascinated as I watched the film (which debuted Saturday and airs all month long). The performances are great, the writing is great, and the content is thought-provoking.

I didn't agree with everything, and it certainly doesn't end in a happy place, but like the best of McCarthy's work, it makes you think about the way you look at life. And in my opinion, that's never a bad thing.