Hailed as "terrific" (San Francisco Chronicle) and "gripping" (The Huffington Post), The Sunset Limited mixes humor and pathos to examine the relationship between strangers brought together by desperate circumstances. Set in a New York tenement apartment, the story focuses on two very different men - a deeply religious black ex-con (Jackson) who thwarts the suicide attempt of an asocial white college professor (Jones) who tried to throw himself in front of an oncoming subway train, The Sunset Limited. The men lock themselves in a passionate philosophical exchange of opposing views, each seeking the language and inspiration that will convert the other. The conflict reaches a shattering conclusion that leaves viewers thinking well after the final frame.

Premiering in 2006 at the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, McCarthy's The Sunset Limited opened off-Broadway in the fall of that year. The HBO Films adaptation was shot in 12 days at the Garson Studios in Santa Fe, New Mexico, working from the text of the play. Following several days of rehearsal with Jackson and McCarthy himself, Jones began to shoot the film, which was divided into 52 scenes, approaching the dialogue-driven script with the intention to honor the beauty and elegance of McCarthy's writing.