Character and dialogue are the driving forces in writer-director John Sayles's movies. In Passion Fish, Sayles delivers a quality screenplay, and Mary McDonnell and Alfre Woodard do his script justice with some of the most accomplished work of their careers. McDonnell -- who also stood out in the director's Matewan -- brings surprising originality to the role of the haggard, self-pitying accident victim, and Woodard never becomes a stereotypical provider of "tough love." Vondie Curtis-Hall and Sayles regular David Strathairn offer colorful supporting turns. Passion Fish was the director's simplest, most elegant work since his second feature, 1983's Lianna. McDonnell and Sayles would be nominated for Academy Awards, and Sayles would also be nominated for his screenplay.