Hurlyburly Movie Review 1998

Casting agents Eddie (Penn) and Mickey (Spacey) share a Hollywood apartment with out-of-work actor Phil (Palminteri). Eddie uses cocaine almost constantly, Phil has just been dumped by his wife, and Mickey (Spacey), although more low key, is himself ready to explode. They're all desperate to be huge "Hollywood" successes. Plot pretty much consists of the men venting their spleens and treating women like crap, particularly Bonnie (Ryan), a slutty exotic dancer traded between the boys. Snappy dialogue-happy script might have worked on the stage, but here, with the camera in close, the mean spirit becomes tiring very quickly. Paquin shows confidence in her first adult role, as a drifter girl-toy.

Distribution

New Line Home Video, 116 N. Robertson Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90048, Phone: (310)854-5811, Fax: (310)854-1824, URL: http://www.newline.com, Remarks: Does not handle retail queries from consumers; contact your local video distributor.

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 122 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Period Piece: 1980s, Buddies, L.A., Adapted from a Play, Sex & Sexuality, Oldest Profession, Men

Screenplay

David Rabe

Cast

Sean Penn, Kevin Spacey, Chazz Palminteri, Meg Ryan, Robin Wright Penn, Anna Paquin, Garry Shandling

Cinematography

Gu Changwei

Director

Tony Drazan

Music

David Baerwald