I loved Mary McD in Passion Fish, but I thought Alfre Woodard was the most sublime actor in that film. Her character portrayl was astounding, IMO. Very subtle, and for that reason, very powerful. I'm a much bigger fan of Alfre Woodard than I am Mary McDonnell--I think she is the better actor of the two.

There seem to be a lot of fans of Sayles political stuff who haven't liked his more personal stuff like Passion Fish, Men with Guns, and Secret of Roan Inish. But I've loved all his work, because he is such a great storyteller. I think the man's brilliance for telling a quiet, subtle, but profoundly human tragedies absolutely shines in those films. It harkens back to the best of the Greek tragedies, IMO. I always allow creative endeavors to get away with being flawed in some way.   When the endeavor is done with integrity, that is. It always reveals something to me about the character of the creator of the story, especially about their artistic process, which I am always fascinated by. I have yet to see a film written and directed by Sayles that doesn't qualify in that sense.