本马修·布罗德里克 Matthew Broderick 饰希望能够成为一名儿童歌曲创作歌手可现实是残酷的他似乎并没有这方面的天赋为了维持生计本还从事着校对的工作但在不久之前他得到了解雇通知这也就意味着本彻底成为了无业游民 在事业一败涂地的同时本也没能够扮演好一个父亲的角色答应带女儿出去玩的他留给女儿的只有不断的承诺以及不断的爽约在纷乱的生活中唯一能让本放松的就是和自己的室友艾博迈克尔·威廉姆斯 Michael Kenneth Williams 饰在一起抽大麻打屁艾博生病了可是政府福利部门却并不想支付本应该由他们负担的医疗费本决定为了自己的朋友替身而出将福利部门告上了法庭
JOHN和NANCY是对恩爱的夫妻为了逃避城市的拥挤和紧张搬往乡村渡假屋一日一个神经汉闯入家中在屋里展开了一场紧张刺激惊心动魄的困兽斗娇弱无助的NANCY发现丈夫JOHN死于恶汉之手被逼坚强起来化悲愤为力量与恶汉决一死战
Fraught with over obvious symbolism, Hartley#39;s early feature is nonetheless a joy to watch Hal here shows us his uncanny ability to cast his characters perfectly came early in his career Adrienne Shelley is a near perfect foil to herself, equal parts annoying teen burgeoning in her sexuality though using sex for several years; obsessed with doom and inspired by idealism gone wrong she is deceptively – and simultaneously – complex and simple Her Audrey inspires so many levels of symbolism it is almost embarrassingly rich eg, her modeling career beginning with photos of her foot – culminating her doing nude but unseen work; Manhattan move; Europe trip; her stealing, then sleeping with the mechanics wrench, etc As Josh, Robert Burke gives an absolutely masterful performance A reformed prisoner/penitent he returns to his home town to face down past demons, accept his lot and begin a new life Dressed in black, and repeatedly mistaken for a priest, he corrects everyone quot;I#39;m a mechanicquot;, yet the symbolism is rich he abstains from alcohol, he practices celibacy is, in fact a virgin, and seemingly has taken on vows of poverty, and humility as well The humility seems hardest to swallow seeming, at times, almost false, a pretense Yet, as we learn more of Josh we see genuineness in his modesty, that his humility is indeed earnest and believable What seems ironic is the character is fairly forthright in his simplicity, yet so richly drawn it becomes the viewer who wants to make him out as more than what he actually is A fascinatingly written character, perfectly played The scene between Josh and Jane a wonderful, young Edie Falco quot;You need a woman not a girlquot; is hilarious real But Hartley can#39;t leave it as such and his trick, having the actors repeat the dialogue overandover becomes frustratingly quot;artyquot; and annoying until again it becomes hilarious What a terrific sense of bizarre reality this lends the film like kids in a perpetual quot;am notquot;/quot;are tooquot; argument Hartley#39;s weaves all of a small neighborhood#39;s idiosyncrasies into a tapestry of seeming stereotypes but which delves far beneath the surface, the catalyst being that everyone believes they know what the quot;unbelievable truthquot; of the title is, yet no two people can agree including our hero on what exactly that truth is A wonderful little movie with some big ideas
