Adam Rifkin's lurid and atmospheric film takes place in and around a filthy Los Angeles hotel, home to drunks, prostitutes, ex-convicts and, most poignantly, a forgotten tap-dance artist. Mr. Rifkin, who also wrote the screenplay, has a gift for creating the atmosphere of grimy despair his subject requires, and for leavening the grim proceedings with touches of grotesque humor. But the visual intensity and the relentless degradation visited on the characters begins to feel prurient and dishonest: the director seems to take an unseemly pleasure in their misery and at the same time to congratulate himself for having the guts to confront it. The problem, though, is not that he lacks the courage to contemplate futility and ruin, but that he's just a bit too eager.......Cast: Vinny Argiro, Donnie Montemarano, Vinnie Jones, Natasha Lyonne, Ann Magnuson.....
Rating: R (Graphic Violence/Adult Language/Substance Abuse (Alcohol, Drugs)/Sexual Situations
