Starting Out in the Evening

i saw this film at the austin film festival and didn't know what to expect, but i really appreciated the character study of Leonard Schiller (as masterfully played by Frank Langella) and his contrast with Lauren Ambrose's character as a young graduate student doing her master's thesis on the aging writer who is no longer appreciated and has resigned his life to a kind of monastic, slow work on a novel that he may never finish. Lili Taylor plays Langella's daughter trying to direct the course of her life as she turns 40 and re-enters a relationship with an ex, played with great thoughtfulness by Adrian Lester (who I last remember as the narrator character from Primary Colors). i wish there were more movies like this, that show people struggling to make their lives happen on their own meaningful terms, as we live our lives, thankfully without explosions and car chases for the most part. life is an education in how to live it and this film has something to say about that.