Hopper the actor has a glimpse of a chance to make another Hopper the director movie and seizes a faltering production. Rewrites the script over a weekend and films an era defining masterpiece. He and Manz are like binary quasars here, truly astonishing.

Improvisation reaches diminishing returns-- lots of mumbling and swearing and even one occasion of an actress feeding Hopper his lines on camera ("Get her... get her... get her... get her..." "My nightgown!"). Songs can be a bit too on the nose ("I'll take you out of the blue and into the black!" said right before the theme song and Hopper throwing it all away while a song about throwing it all away is playing). Linda Manz is not as good as advertised, I'm sorry to say. Her character is as obnoxious as her parents and she certainly sings and giggles a lot. She's got charisma but is too much of a brat and her whole performance seems a bit forced at times. So... those are the cons. The pros are that you get one of the most unpleasant visions of America ever put on screen and one of the most abrupt, disturbing endings I have seen. Wait. I actually don't know if those are pros. Though it certainly explains why this has a cult following. Sorta recommended. Left me feeling icky. Hopper already had two masterpieces before making this so I'll let the fumble slide.