My husband and I have watched a fair share of movies based on stage plays in the past several months and have been continually disappointed. After we aborted watching about two-thirds of the way through one painfully slow story—with a lovely and talented cast that simply could not save the show—we agreed to steer clear of movies based on plays going forward.

I'm grateful I had no idea MATCH was based on a play before we started watching it. For had I known then refused to watch the film starring Patrick Stewart, Carla Gugino, and Matthew Lillard was originally a 2005 Broadway play written by Stephen Belber and starring Frank Langella, I would have missed out on a minimal yet powerful, thought-provoking, and memorable story.

Belber wrote and directed the film based on his play about an aging former world-traveling ballet dancer, Tobias or "Tobi" (Patrick Stewart), who's retired from dance and...