Natalie Haddad (Kyra Sedgwick) is a talented photographer living in New York City who is undergoing a financial crisis.

Although Roy is insufferably snobbish and manipulative, he manages to exert a curious control over Natalie, forcing her to confront several disturbing, long-suppressed memories of her past (shown in black-and-white flashbacks).

"[5] He also praised the portrayal of a gay man suffering from AIDS and expressed hope that Viacom's corporate "synergy" might "be leveraged in such a fashion that it can make a positive difference, fostering dialogue and promoting understanding".

[6] Houston Chronicle critic Ann Hodges said that it "comes close, at times, to sentimental melodrama, but it recovers" and "builds to a two-hanky ending."

[7] On the other hand, The New York Times critic Anita Gates wrote a mainly negative review, concluding that despite the director's evident personal connection to the material (her own brother had died of AIDS), the film "is undermined by simplistic dialog and one-note direction" as well as by what Gates found to be the unpleasant personalities of the main characters.