Jill Sprecher's touching ensemble drama formally resembles a Kubrick film, incorporating his questing intelligence and a great deal more warmth. Her second feature (after "Clockwatchers"), written with her sister Karen, it boasts a gathering of eager actors, including an arrogant Matthew McConaughey awaiting comeuppance, a brilliant, lonely Alan Arkin, Clea DuVall as a dreamy woman awakened to tragedy, John Turturro, Amy Irving and Barbara Sukowa. They criss-cross on the streets, bars and offices of contemporary Manhattan, their musings on luck and fate illuminating moments small and large that could happen to any of us. Early reviews have compared the film to Kieslowski; I guess he's got the lock on anything that deals with moral choices.

The Sprechers have spent much of their time since September showing the film at festivals. "I'm glad the festival circuit has wound down," Sprecher updated me on Tuesday, "since we should be doing some actual work and try and make money for a change. We've done four drafts of a pilot for HBO and will be handing the most recent in this week, which means more notes."

Along with producers' notes, there's also critical response to their work. "We're trying to avoid reading further reviews, although somehow our mom keeps e-mailing them to us. She's an Internet junkie," she says, laughing. "We got a thick skin from 'Clockwatchers' and learned the harsh lesson that you can't please everyone. That seems especially so with a movie like 'Thirteen Conversations,' which has been described as 'contemplative'—a big no-no. At least we can pride ourselves on managing to push people's buttons, even if some of them are apparently the wrong ones."

She wonders if audiences will have as many opinions as critics about the title. "From the reviews we have seen, I find the differing interpretations of the "one thing" of the title most interesting. Some people think it's about faith, others think it's about fate; some think it's about chaos and entropy [Vanity Fair], and others believe it's about design [Stanley Kauffman]. When we started writing, we decided the 'one thing' that was under discussion would be the 'simple' concept of happiness. But I'm very pleased with the various points of view. Nothing is ever simple."

The script began with the idea of a character called "the happy man." Arkin plays the manager of an insurance office who is constantly nettled by a ceaselessly cheery employee. Arkin's home is lit and framed in a way informed by the work of a painter named John Register, but will evoke the paintings of Edward Hopper to some. What's superb about the space and light in which he's placed is the intense sense of self-willed isolation. He's chosen his stew. "The happy man is based in part on a neighbor in our hometown, Madison, Wisconsin. Some of the other neighbors made fun of this man behind his back, in part because he seemed to brag a little too much about his wife and kids and perfect life. We wondered what kind of incident, if any, might ultimately burst his bubble. And we tried to analyze the neighborhood's response, why some found him so annoying, if there was an element of jealousy, perhaps. We decided if there is one thing in life most worth envying, it would probably be happiness, and we thought it might be interesting to examine what exactly happiness means."

Would Sprecher hate the happy man? "I can tell you right now why I hate the happy man. Because I'm not him. I really aspire to have the attitude of that character. I'm just afraid that at this point in my life, I'm too jaded. I hope this can be reversed."

The Sprechers are working in L.A. these days. "Karen and I still think New York is the greatest place on earth to live. We had to edit 'Thirteen Conversations' in Los Angeles and were longing to return to New York once it was finished. Then the movie got into some festivals. We were at the Toronto Film Festival on September 11. The night before, we found out the movie had been bought by Sony Pictures Classics, and we went out to celebrate with Dick Pope, our cinematographer, who flew in from London. It's strange thinking about it now, because we were all so happy that night. The next morning we woke up and the world had literally changed, and everything we'd thought was so important became inconsequential. One of our very good friends was killed in the World Trade Center. Karen had just spoken to him a few days before. He called to wish us good luck. We're still a little lost right now. We accumulated a lot of debt getting this movie made and ultimately had to give up our apartment in New York. For the time being we're living with a relative until we can get enough money to return there. The events of September 11 have caused us to re-examine a lot of things, like what's really important in life. During the last year we were so consumed with making this movie, we sort of lost focus of everything else going on around us."

"13 Conversations About One Thing" opens June 14.

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