Five years in the making, Agee chronicles in vivid, dramatic, and often humorous terms, the unfolding of a life dedicated to the written word. In his short, intense career, James Agee brought his passion, his integrity, and his reverence for life to all that he touched. His scrupulous honesty and sheer genius as a stylist give his writing a power and diversity unmatched in American literature.

Perhaps the most versatile writer of this century, James Agee was a novelist, short story writer, film critic, poet, and screenwriter. His novel A Death in the Family won the Pulitzer Prize and was later made into the movie All the Way Home; his Let Us Now Praise Famous Men is considered an American masterpiece; and his screenplay The African Queen has been loved by millions.

Agee tells James Agee's story through interviews with the people who knew him best — John Huston, Walker Evans, Robert Fitzgerald, Father James Flye, Dwight MacDonald, Robert Saudek, and Agee's three wives. included in the film are dramatizations from Agee's work, rare archival footage, and scenes from films written by Agee.