By EWAN McDONALD
(Herald rating: * * * *)
John (Robert Sean Leonard, pictured next page) has made a movie that is being shown in a film festival. On the night before the screening, John catches up with his old schoolmate, Vince (Ethan Hawke), now a small-time drug-dealer, who is in town
for the premiere. It turns out that 10 years earlier, in high school, John apparently date-raped Vince's ex-girlfriend, Amy (Uma Thurman), and Vince wants to call his nearly famous, politically correct buddy to account.
Vince secretly tapes their argument in a motel room — and John's confession. Amy is now a DA in town and Vince wants to show her the tape and win her back. When Amy arrives the tables are turned on both men, and the three are forced to face the truth and what has happened to each since that night a decade earlier.
It shares the woodenness and contrivance of most stage plays brought to the screen, but the performances from the manipulative Hawke, disintegrating Leonard and self-contained Thurman are marvellous; director Richard Linklater (Dazed and Confused) pulls off a remarkable high-wire act. Challenging drama that doesn't leave everything tied in a neat bow at the end.
DVD features: movie (86min); commentary from director Linklater and actor Hawke; trailer.
