John Cusack has a cameo as a philosophical partier in this comediac gem by director Peter McCarthy ('Repo Man' and 'TapeHeads'). James LeGros plays John Boyz who starts off the film having a real bummer of a time in the days preceding the Rodney King verdict riots. He's unemployed, depressed and his savings are confiscated by the IRS. He loses his girlfriend to another man and his brother needs an expensive detox program.

How in the world does hilarity ensue from this point on? It does. There are goofy characters, a stream-of-consciousness narrative and some really on-target dialogue. Who among us doesn't crave our comedy served with an edge? The sheer force of humor in this almost makes up for the intermittent moralizing that struggles to surface.