Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Steve Buscemi | ... | John | |
Romany Malco | ... | Virgil | |
Sarah Silverman | ... | Jill | |
Peter Dinklage | ... | Mr. Townsend | |
Jesse Garcia | ... | Park Ranger | |
John Cho | ... | Smitty | |
Tim Blake Nelson | ... | Militant Ned | |
Matthew McDuffie | ... | Lucypher | |
Emmanuelle Chriqui | ... | Tasty D Lite | |
Ben Zeller | ... | Truck Stop Owner | |
Aviva Baumann | ... | Pennie (as Aviva) | |
Shawn Prince | ... | Ticket Taker | |
Danny Trejo | ... | Bismarck | |
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Stephen Eiland | ... | Mordicai |
Josh Berry | ... | Manager |
John Alighieri, formerly of Las Vegas, now works as a claims adjuster for Townsend Insurance LLC in Albuquerque. John used to think he was lucky, but now doesn't, which is why he, a gambler, moved away from Vegas to wherever his car would take him. That move, however, didn't cure his gambling addiction as he has turned instead to scratch and win tickets. The one lucky thing he sees in his current life is sitting in the next cubicle to Jill, to who he is attracted, she who most secretly know is sleeping with Mr. Townsend. When John goes into Mr. Townsend's office to ask for a raise, John walks out of the office instead with a new job/promotion: fraud investigator, working alongside the senior man in the position, Virgil. John's first case with Virgil is to investigation an automobile accident claim, which includes personal injury, made by a stripper with the stage name Tasty D Lite, who says that she was rear ended out in the middle of the desert which Virgil does not believe looking ... Written by Huggo
Steve Buscemi holds this one together, the other main characters are impossible to identify with - either because they don't say much or they are mysterious and mean. There are a lot of bizarre situations that are thrown in which don't really further the storyline but show off a type of artistic creativeness. They definitely had a lot of good ideas here, and perhaps the movie would have been more interesting if they simply abandoned the tired story line and went from one hypnotic scenario to the next (Like Fear and Loathing). But the main story (the story about the insurance fraud) progresses in the background without momentum and when it is finally resolved it feels anticlimactic. But there is another story here, perhaps more important - the one concerning Steve Buscemis past. This could have been developed into a compelling and meaningful drama but it is only used to further the comedy (and to tack on the Confucious ending) There are a few laughs along the way here and a good deal of cute/quirky ideas. Could have been improved with a bit of storyline editing beforehand.