(2007)

Eugene O'Neill was never accused of brevity, and his tragic tale of Jim Tyrone — the playwright's final opus, penned in 1943 — nears the three-hour mark. But this production is a pleasure from start to poignant finish. It's surprisingly funny (owing to Roy Dotrice's crotchety farm owner). It's also genuinely romantic: Tyrone seeks salvation in the ample arms of an awkward virgin (Cherry Jones). But above all, it's gloriously poetic, thanks to the passionate Gabriel Byrne, who turns Tyrone's whiskey-soaked sentiment into something almost spiritual. You'll want him to go on, and on, and on. A-

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