This movie is quirky and will not appeal to most people. It's does not contain much in the way of action, there are no special FX, and the plot is down to earth. The film is also mistakenly billed as a comedy and this tends to throw people expecting funny hah hah as in Meet the Parents. This is a subtle black comedy. It's more funny in the same vein as After Hours. In fact anyone that liked After Hours a lot will probably like this too.
There are 2 central characters in the story. Diane Lane plays Debbie Bender a sexy youngish woman married to a stuffy slightly older doctor. I use the term youngish because her character appears to be in that strange zone that is the twilight of youth. Her husband although only slightly older has fully completed to transition to adulthood, is very materialistic, does not respect or acknowledge his wife's intelligence and views her as some sort of a possession / servant.
Jame LeGros plays Skippy a neighbour whos a sort of mid 20s James Dean crossed with Peter Pan type character slightly younger than Debbie... but not much. He's also rebellious - the aging neighbourghood bad boy stuck in a menial job and and still living with his mother obstensibly because he's too broke to get a place of his own but secretly because he has to look after her. Amusingly the Benders both perceive themselves to be much older than Skippy and treat him like the a neighbourhood kid, although deep down you can tell that Debbie perhaps identifies more with Skippy than her husband...
There's a hugely surreal aspect to the film although not as blatant as say Twin Peaks, this is presented is a voyueristic way letting you catch various characters with their guard down and seeing how they behave when they think nobody is watching.
The best part of the film is the sexual tension between Debbie and Skippy as they become thrown together by their vaguely and intentionally hum-drum adventure.
If you like films about the more interesting an amusing parts of real life while exposing some of the quirkier aspects of the human condition and with a crackling of sexual tension then you need to get hold of this.
Great soundtrack too!
