A Special Presentation at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival, Jill Sprecher's (CLOCKWATCHERS) THIRTEEN CONVERSATIONS ABOUT ONE THING features five unsettled characters who connect by happenstance in an unusually calm New York City.

Gene (Alan Arkin, JACOB THE LIAR) is a manager at a large insurance company who vents his habitual grumpiness on a cheerful co-worker.

Similarly moody and middle-aged, Walker (John Turturro, 2000 AND NONE) decides he can no longer be content with his life as a physics professor; he leaves his wife Patricia (Amy Irving, BOSSA NOVA) to face her own loneliness.

Troy (Matthew McConaughey, FRAILTY) is a cocky young attorney, whose dizzying rise to success is tumbled by a single act.And Beatrice (Clea DuVall, GIRL, INTERRUPTED) is an optimistic young cleaning woman who rides on the wings of a past miracle until she suddenly needs another one.

They are all consumed by two big questions: What is happiness, and how do we get it? The film's ingenious, intricate narrative structure with criss-crossing plot lines constantly doubles back on itself with surprising results. Delicious cinematography, poignancy, playful-ness and optimism enrich this film that pits the search for happiness against the bitter ironies of chance. THIRTEEN CONVERSATIONS ABOUT ONE THING is a smart, engaging film that explores fate, the power of hope and the elusiveness of true happiness. As lonely Patricia says, "Ask yourself if you are happy and you cease to be so."

"Compelling! With quiet drama and a leisurely pace, the stories examine how even our smallest actions affect other people. Jill Sprecher's second film marks a giant stride forward. And Alan Arkin's searing turn as Gene marks a capstone in his career." - Erica Abeel, Film Journal International