Loser

Running time: N/A

Good looks and a glamorous name--James Dean Ray--aren't enough to save the tragic hero of this contemporary tale of lost youth and squandered potential. Named after his mother's favorite movie star, young Jimmy finds himself racing down the road of his own destruction, not in a shiny black Porsche, but in the frayed seat of a beat-up old junker. He fills his days as a petty, small-town drug dealer, generally hanging out and buying, selling, as well as using his illegal commodities. Older brother Brandon, a college student who is determined to make something of himself, tries every way imagineable to help Jimmy, but nothing seems to stick. Even a beautiful young girlfriend who truly loves him cannot divert him from his self-destructive path. And the boys' bitter, alcoholic father, trapped in his own bottle of Vietnam nightmares and booze, is no help either. When he's not numbed-out in front of the TV, he revels in berating and otherwise verbally abusing his youngest son. Jimmy's final descent begins when he finds himself faced with a twenty-four-hour-or-else deadline to pay off a sizable debt owed to his dealer. As usual, he's broke, and his stubborn pride won't allow him to even approach his brother for help. He half-heartedly tries to raise the cash, but everything he does only seems to move him closer to his inevitable end. Youthful, small-time losers like Jimmy have populated films throughout the art form's history. And while the story is familiar, director Kirk Harris brings a decidedly nineties perspective to things, filling the film with an edgy combination of dark humor, raw emotion, and a hip sense of dread that suggests the desperation of an entire generation. --P.D. Crane