According to this movie, anyway. Imagine a remake of La Ronde set in Hollywood with contemporary characters, written and directed by Quinten Tarentino while he's having a bad day, and you have a pretty good idea of what this movie offers. It's a series of vignettes in which one character has sex with another, then the second has sex with a third, who has sex with a fourth, and so on until the last character has sex with the first character. In the process, the characters treat us to a lot of cheap sex, spew four-letter words constantly, and treat us and psychobabble & gibberish that's meant to pass as being philosophical observation. And we're supposed to say, "Wow, what an intelligent, edgy work of art!" NOT!!! The problem with the sex and nudity is not that it's there, or even that it's casual and recreational. It's just that all the sexual activity is angry and aggressive, as though it's a substitute for violence. And that some of it takes place in improbable places (in a car wash, in a restaurant toilet stall). All of the characters are completely unpleasant. While bad guys can be interesting, none of these people are. They're all just rude, crude, boorish users, and not even interesting ones.
The only thing that saves this from the lowest possible rating is the cast, who tries to rise above the muck. Some succeed, some don't. Hilary Swank steals what little there is to steal, making the most of the scenes she's in. But doesn't have much screen time. Natasha Gregson Wagner is beautiful but doesn't have much to do. As a cheating Hollywood socialite in an open marriage, she's little more than set decoration. Stephen Mailer is funny as the heroin-addicted lover of a closeted gay actor, and he has the best line in the film (which can't be repeated here, but involves moth balls). But his character is such a bitter, self-pitying, self-destructive loser, you wish he'd go away. Chad Lowe gives one of his less worthy performances as a misogynist pig of a studio exec sleeping with his boss's wife. Bill Cusack makes little impression as Wagner's cheating phony of a husband, and Peter Dobson makes less of one Mailer's closeted A-List lover. And Meta Golding's role is particularly degrading. It's a hit or miss affair that usually misses.
The only thing that saves this from the lowest possible rating is the cast, who tries to rise above the muck. Some succeed, some don't. Hilary Swank steals what little there is to steal, making the most of the scenes she's in. But doesn't have much screen time. Natasha Gregson Wagner is beautiful but doesn't have much to do. As a cheating Hollywood socialite in an open marriage, she's little more than set decoration. Stephen Mailer is funny as the heroin-addicted lover of a closeted gay actor, and he has the best line in the film (which can't be repeated here, but involves moth balls). But his character is such a bitter, self-pitying, self-destructive loser, you wish he'd go away. Chad Lowe gives one of his less worthy performances as a misogynist pig of a studio exec sleeping with his boss's wife. Bill Cusack makes little impression as Wagner's cheating phony of a husband, and Peter Dobson makes less of one Mailer's closeted A-List lover. And Meta Golding's role is particularly degrading. It's a hit or miss affair that usually misses.