Double Whammy

Shambolic cop Ray Pluto (Leary) is having a bad week. First, he's incapacitated during a burger bar hold-up, then he witnesses a murder attempt on his building's superintendent (Guzmán) without realising what he's actually seeing. Pluto also fills his days flirting with his sultry chiropractor (Hurley), advising the bloodthirsty screenwriters acting out Tarantino-esque fantasies in the upstairs apartment, offering solace to a dweeby, closeted colleague (Buscemi), and getting stoned watching cheerleader porn. If the plot sounds haphazard, the movie doesn't even look finished. Promising scenes, such as those between Guzmán and the daughter who puts out a hit on him, are crudely curtailed, while trite skits on movie violence run to unconscionable lengths. Leary grimaces throughout, though in fairness he doesn't have much to play besides back trouble and occasional grief for a dead wife - as close as the script gets to characterisation.