Giles De'ath; widower, stuffy British author, out-of-step fogey. Giles gets locked out of his house one day and opts to see an E.M. Forrester adaptation at a local cinema to pass the time. He mistakenly goes into the wrong theater and, as he is about to leave the purile American film, notices a young actor who immediately strikes his fancy. From there, we go on a journey with Giles as his obsession with the mediocre young actor goes from slight interest to a schoolgirl like obsession. This evolution ultimately brings him to Chesterton, Long Island, home of the actor. His miraculous encounter with the lad in some ways pushes the reserved Brit's emotional threshold over the top. The subtext of a homosexuality is too obvious to be taken seriously, for the real subtext is something more subtle.

Taxi Driver:
The sign says "no smoking."


Giles De'Ath:
No, the sign says "thank you for not smoking." As I am smoking, I don't expect to be thanked.