PonyboyJones I could go into a long exposition about this movie and why I disliked it...but I won't. The characters are truly horrible people, real as they may be. I found myself detesting them completely. I can't relate to this film in any way. The only thing I can conclude is that it must have been made by self centered Hollywood types FOR self centered Hollywood types. Palminteri's character is probably one of the worst screen characters I've ever seen. As I mentioned earlier, most of my stomach wrenching was in direct result of this guy. It's a bizarre film, and in the least, it'll leave you being thankful for your "normal" life.

Lee Eisenberg Seeing what all happens in "Hurlyburly", I get the feeling that the word refers to a whole bunch of things getting thrown together, but I don't know for certain. But I can say that I liked the movie. A scathing look at the lives of several Hollywood people, the movie pulls no punches. There's Eddie (Sean Penn), a beyond-pathetic twerp; Mickey (Kevin Spacey), possibly the smarmiest person alive; Phil (Chazz Palminteri) and and Artie (Garry Shandling), losers in their own respect; and still more undesirable individuals.I see that the movie was based on a play. It certainly has the feel of a play (a confined setting). One of the most interesting cast members was Meg Ryan, playing a character very far from her usual roles ("Eddie, if your manner of speech is any indication of what's in your head, you're lucky you can stand up!"); she's almost chilling here.Overall, I recommend this one. Just understand that it focuses on a pretty ugly topic. OK, so maybe Kevin Spacey is getting typecast as the cynical jerk, but he always does a good job with his roles in my opinion. This is one to see.

johnny-08 I didn't know anything about this movie but when I looked at list of cast I realized that I have to watch this movie.And I did.I found it weird but very good.There is lot of conversation between characters and not a single line isn't missed.Very good lines about life,death,love,friendship and sex.Everything is mixed up together and wrapped into very good drama.I don't think that this movie will be on top of everyone list because this isn't type of movie for everyone.But what all people has to agree is that characters are full of life and situations in this movie are normal and realistic.And what I have to say and applause is acting.Acting is brilliant and it comes from every actor in this movie.Sean Penn did great job,this is a perfect role for him and he is very convincing.Kevin Spacey was a bit lost but his talent is so big that he can act every role.Also a good job.I liked Chazz Palminteri,Robin Wright Penn and Anna Paquin but what I really enjoyed is Meg Ryan.She surprised me.She's only few minutes in this movie but she acted that part so good and I hope that we'll see more roles like this for her.Excellent conversation and brilliant acting are top qualities of this movie.

fedor8 Or "Verbal Gymnastics Among The Bored And Decadent". I have rarely, or perhaps even never, seen a movie with such extreme verbal acrobatics and with such an incredible emphasis on complex semantic games and duels; almost makes Stillman's movies sound like Bud Spencer's films, by comparison. Whoever wrote this thing evidently put a lot of effort into the sometimes mind-boggling dialog. There isn't much in the way of a plot, but the kind of talking, arguing, and philosophizing that goes on here is rather unusual. And the good part is that it's very well-written. Occasionally the sentences or arguments get so bogged down into semantic mud that it becomes necessary to use the rewind button, because it's difficult to concentrate that hard for two entire hours. I think that Wright spoke for both the viewers and the cast members when she at one point hollered "I can't stand this semantic insanity any more!".Practically everyone engages in the verbal entanglements, but it is Penn's character who usually outdoes everyone in this respect, and it is usually him who initiates them, right after snorting the n-th line of cocaine, or after having taken a couple of deep inhalings of hash - and those things he does throughout the whole movie (and this goes to a lesser extent for Spacey and Schandling, too). The "semantic insanity" sometimes goes so far that the characters replace ends of sentences with "blablablabla" - quite literally. The dialog is sometimes fascinating, often funny or amusing, and at times so insanely intricate that the characters themselves have trouble following what the other person exactly meant to say.This last thing, of course, leads to many amusing moments. The humorous moments themselves stem primarily from Penn's drug-induced, hallucinatory ramblings and Spacey's wonderful sarcasm and wit. In fact, the very beginning of the movie sets the tone for the way those two will interact throughout most of the picture (their relationship being important but also just one of a half-dozen): Penn is falling deeper and deeper into thickets of "semantic insanity" - bitching about Spacey having had a fling with Wright - while Spacey listens to him, and responds to Penn's verbal overkill by making wry remarks. In the two hours of the movie Penn is almost always whacked-out on drugs, and the more drugged he is, the more he searches for answers to the "meaning of life" (towards the end of the movie), the more he moans, bitches, and whines, and the more he practices his bored-out-of-my-mind philosophizing about relationships and life. In moments when he is extremely out of it - like when alone with Meg Ryan, and just after Palmintierri's funeral - he goes on such an emotional rampage, and his voice assumes such a high, crackly pitch that he sounds exactly like Bill Murray in moments when he goes a little crazy. It's by far the best Penn I've seen so far; he has rarely been good, but in this movie he is rather good, I have to admit. Spacey, of course, is great as ever, and Palmintierri gets a short while to get used to. The cast is, generally speaking, quite a colourful and mixed bag.There are a number of funny or amusing moments, so I'll just mention a couple of those that I still remember... There is the scene when Penn mentions the aborigines, and says some nonsense about them having (had) their own problems, such as "tigers waiting in trees", and "dogs in the bushes" (or something like that). Very funny. Then there is a funny, longer scene in which Spacey tries to explain to Penn that there is no hidden message in Palmintierri's (rather moronic) suicide note, while Penn insists that they analyze the letter for hidden meanings and anagrams(!) in order to find the real truth about his pal's death. Especially funny is the brief scene when Spacey reads the letter aloud, mock-analyzing it word by word.