Peter O'Toole certainly gave Forest Whitaker a run for his money in 2006, as some might argue that Mr. O'Toole ought have won the Oscar for Best Actor. Me? I'm on the fence - I've seen both films and have decided that I'm glad I did not have to choose between the two, as both are brilliant performances. Acting aside, the whole of this film is wonderfully shot (the cinematography is top-notch, especially for a character-and-dialogue-driven film), expertely paced and raises some interesting questions about morals and ethics, not to mention there are some genuinely touching and funny moments. Actually, there are quite a lot of funny moments, and I found myself a tad surprised to be laughing as often as I did. It might be said that you would have to be "in the field" to appreciate some of the lighter moments, and that may be true; I wouldn't be the one to look to for this question, as I myself am an actor/musician and "in" on many of the jokes (I found "Waiting For Guffman" absolutely hilarious). All in all, I'd say that this film deserved all the praise it received, and perhaps more.