Gabriel Higgs has failed to get into Johns Hopkins to study medicine. He's sixth on a list of backup candidates, and must persuade the five people ahead of him to drop out. Gabriel has a family tradition to live up to. Things don't go to plan.
Direction
Liman's kinetic camera work already fully formed
Writing
Cynical script that hates its own protagonist
Acting
Swanson's conniving charm steals every scene
Director
Doug Liman
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Liman shot this while still a student at USC, financing it partly through wealthy parents of classmates who wanted cameos.
This barely-released obscurity predicted the 1990s boom of morally vacant protagonists in indie cinema, arriving just before 'Pulp Fiction' made it acceptable.
US
