Rating: NR
Genre:
Comedy Drama
Theatrical Release: 01/25/2002(USA
Release Date: 07/16/2002
SubTitles: English/French
Dubbed: English
Sound: DD5.1/DDS
Run Time: 87 Minutes
Flags: Violence, Adult Situations, Strong Sexual Content, Not For Children, Adult Humor, Profanity, Substance Abuse (Alcohol, Drugs)
Distributor/Studio: New Line Home Video
From the controversial director of
Happiness comes another dark look at New Jersey, this time broken into two separate stories. The first is a 26-minute segment entitled "Fiction," which highlights the life of Marcus (
Leo Fitzpatrick), an aspiring writer who was born with deformities due to cerebral palsy. He unsuccessfully tries to read a new short story to his girlfriend Vi (
Selma Blair), and leaves her after the story is similarly dismissed by his fellow students and teacher, Mr. Scott (
Robert Wisdom), a black Pulitzer Prize winner. Vi approaches Mr. Scott in a bar one night and agrees to go home with him, recalling a "fictional" account of their experience in the next class. The second segment, titled "Nonfiction," follows Toby Oxman (
Paul Giamatti), a thirtysomething sad sack who gets the idea to make a documentary of contemporary suburban teenage life. Looking for subjects, he runs into Scooby (
Mark Webber), a disaffected, dim young man who dreams of being a TV star. Scooby's home life is highly dysfunctional, with a strict father (
John Goodman), a prim and proper mother (
Julie Hagerty), a football player brother (
Noah Fleiss), and a younger brother Mikey (
Jonathan Osser), who continually chats up the family's put-upon maid Consuelo (
Lupe Ontiveros). Consuelo is soon banished from the household due to her involvement with Mikey, becoming an outcast just like Scooby.
~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide
