Produced and directed by Anthony Drazan, Hurlyburly is a scathingly funny and touchingly human story about the quest for meaning in our morally muddled times. Based on David Rabe's play, the film features spellbinding performances from an ensemble cast including Sean Penn, Kevin Spacey, Chazz Palminteri, Garry Shandling, Meg Ryan, Robin Wright Penn and Anna Paquin. Distinctively shot by Changwei Gu (Farewell My Concubine) in a world of mirrored reflections and shiny surfaces, Hurlyburly is produced by Drazan, Richard N. Gladstein and David S. Hamburger.

Eddie (Penn) is a high-powered casting director in a tail-spin, searching for even a crumb of meaning in the hollow expanse of his existence. He lives in a posh Hollywood condo with his smugly charming business partner Mickey (Spacey), who is "taking a break" from his wife and

d business partner. I am convinced now that Spacey is easily one of the best actors working today. Penn has already long held that status. Robin Wright-Penn, Garry Shandling, and Anna Paquin are all fine even if their performances don't quite stand out. The only actor who does not pull her load is Meg Ryan, here as an intelligent prostitute (apparently wearing the most wondrous of

We are subjected to all of these things in Hurlyburly. It is a terrible, nightmarish world indeed and yet one that is squeamishly riveting. We do not like this world, we do not like these characters and yet we're compelled to watch.

The weak link in this cast is undeniably Jenny Seagrove who plays Eddie's girlfriend Darlene. She is just not up to the standard of the others. In the incredible drug-addled debates and machine-gun exchanges, Seagrove acts as the virtual handbrake. She comes on the stage looking and sounding awkward in her character and American accent - and the delivery of her lines is unbearably sluggish in comparison. Part of this may be attributed to her character's drug abstention but not all.

Rounding out the central quartet is Chazz Palminteri's Phil, an ex-con character actor who's on the inside track in the race to self-destruction, and Garry Shandling's Artie, a successful producer who tucks his insecurities behind a glibly superior front. What plot emerges out of the bitching and moaning of these brutes involves the unfortunate women who are passed between them like tokens -- and the fact that Phil's violent outbursts have begun to wear on the others. Both plot lines converge in a disastrous night of (relative) truth-telling that leaves the group shattered.

Hurlyburly is not so much plot as slice of life, which revolves around Eddie, played electrically by Rupert Graves. This is a long way from Graves' Merchant Ivory past but he both rises and stumbles to the occasion. We watch with horror as, again and again, he metamorphoses from slick studio exec to reeling, spitting, drugged out disaster area. The rest of the characters are also quite mesmerising, in particular Andy Serkis' maniac Phil who is both menacing and touching and Susannah Doyle's (of Drop the Dead Donkey fame) wronged, party girl Bonnie.

Eddie and his friends continue their entertaining and manic pursuit of sensation--until a series of encounters with destiny, decadence and even death convinces Eddie to plunge beneath the surface . . . and discover his soul.

Highlighted by emotional, believable performances by its cast (Sean Penn in particular is typically brilliant), Hurlyburly is not for everyone, but can be a powerful and compelling drama for those who approach it with an open mind. The film is frequently referred to as a comedy-drama, a misleading designation for what is a sometimes humorous, but ultimately emotional and sobering look at life in 1980s Hollywood. Particularly well-done are the cocaine-fuelled scenes which provide one of the most accurate depictions of the drug lifestyle and the effect it can have on interpersonal relationships. The film can seem over-the-top in parts, but the excess is necessary to convey the film's message. Emotional, witty, thought-provoking and on some levels deeply depressing, Hurlyburly is an underrated and under-appreciated character-driven drama that capitalizes on the talents of an all-star cast to deliver a top-notch product.

BY JONATHAN LETHEM | "Hurlyburly," adapted by director Anthony Drazan and writer David Rabe from Rabe's award-winning play, is less a tale than an X-ray of four self-destructive and misogynistic Hollywood wise guys. The film is a discomforting dose of fast-lane meltdown and macho angst, one that justifies comparisons to the best of David Mamet. Not since "Glengarry Glen Ross" has such a vibrantly and uncompromisingly talky play been so successfully translated to film. The result is a showcase for a remarkable ensemble of actors.

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