Mike Nichols and Emma Thompson adapted Margaret Edson's play about a dying scholar for the star. See a John Donne sonnet and an article by Edson.

Joanne Weintraub predicts Emmy nods for "mundane, poetic, profound" Thompson, "superb" cast mate Audra McDonald, and "flawless" director Mike Nichols.

John Carman calls this HBO version of the play, in which Mike Nichols directs Emma Thompson, "uncommonly depressing and unusually good."