Vincent D'Onofrio (an actor I will continue to laude until he gets bigger and better parts) stars as burley, blustery good ol' Texas boy Bob Howard who hit it big penning the lusty adventures of Conan the Barbarian back in the pulp magazine era of the 1930s. In the mid '30s, Howard apparently began an odd love affair with local teacher (and wannabe writer) Novalyne Price. Price only wrote one book in her entire life, a 1985 tome recounting her relationship with Howard. That book forms the basis of Ireland's film, both a wistful accounting of a doomed love and an exacting examination of unstable genius.

Despite his success, Howard never left his small Texas hometown, and spent his entire adult life caring for his invalid mother. The relationship between Howard and his mother does not appear to have been a very healthy one. Ann Wedgeworth, best known for her work on TV's Evening Shade, is perfectly cast as the not-quite-dominating, but still-quite-demanding matriarch. Mrs. Howard never seems willing to give up her motherly grasp, and frequently deflects the attentions of other women (Novalyne Price included) from her beloved son. This relationship is highly important to understanding the character and life of Robert E. Howard.

Howard's stories were full of visceral sex and gore. They were the primal fantasies of an adolescent boy who never quite grew up. This ability to tap into childhood fantasies was both the writer's greatest strength and his greatest weakness. It made him an indefatigable pulp hero, cranking out hundreds of wildly popular stories: Westerns, fantasies, science fiction, horror stories. The scenes in which Howard bangs out his fiction--screaming out dialogue, gesticulating wildly and pounding on the typewriter like an angry beast--are invigorating, infectious and slightly scary. This incredible child-like imagination also makes it difficult for Howard to connect with real women. The affair with Novalyne Price apparently lasted through several years of fits and starts and was never actually consummated.

Renee Zellweger (ready to hit the big-time after her star turn in Jerry Maguire) plays Novalyne Price with just the right elements of wide-eyed hero worship and stubborn "It girl" independence. Zellweger's Price is smart enough to realize that this handsome man-child is nothing but trouble; still, she is attracted to both Howard's loud-mouthed charisma and to his success as a writer. When Howard berates her for not writing about things that she knows, Novalyne fires back with the observation that she has never seen giant snakes or big-breasted maidens traipsing through the hills of East Texas. To which Howard replies, "Oh, but I have."

The Whole Wide World is a quiet, lyrical love story between an intelligent down-to-earth girl and a wildly creative stargazer. It is also an affecting drama about a social reject who was never able to escape the grasp of his mother's love. Sadly, Howard committed suicide at a very young age, and Novalyne Price gave up her dream of being a famous writer. Together, perhaps, they could have conquered the world. I guess that's what that love stuff is all about.