Four Lane Highway

Drinking and screwing his life away in a Northeastern college town, a failed writer (Weller) decides to find his long-lost girlfriend (Goodman). Along with his Bukowski-ish buddy (Rogers), the loser heads to New York in search of his ex; flashbacks reveal that insecurities, booze and good ol’ male immaturity caused the relationship to go sour. Dylan McCormick’s dramedy predictably ticks off indie-film clichs one by one with little payback—and someone should tell Rogers that self-satisfied mugging doesn’t equal comic relief. (Opens Fri; Village East.) — David Fear