Chain Of Fools

Kresk the Barber (Steve Zahn) barely has the energy to cut hair, between being nagged into apartment-sitting by ex-wife Karen (Lara Flynn Boyle) and badgered into babysitting by his sister, Jeannie (Myndy Crist). When hoodlum Avnet (Jeff Goldblum) shows up for a trim, Kresk overhears a cell phone conversation in which Avnet hires teenaged hit man Mikey (Elijah Wood) to eliminate his partner, Mr. Bollingworth (Tom Wilkinson), in the wake of a rare-coin theft during which security were killed. Avnet catches Kresk eavesdropping and attacks him, but the terrified Kresk accidentally stabs him during the assault. After several false starts, Kresk and his buddy, Andy (David Cross), hide Avnet’s body at Karen’s vacant apartment, then go to Avnet’s apartment and steal the so-called "Shiny New Enemies" from a piggy bank despite interference from Avnet’s cross- dressing roommate, Miss Cocoa (Orlando Jones). Meanwhile, police detective and centerfold Meredith Kolko (Salma Hayek) is investigating the robbery; though she and Kresk cross paths, she never suspects that he's involved. Ironically, Kresk also rescues the now-suicidal Mr. Bollingworth, who’s still on Mikey’s to-do list. But while Kresk is sitting for Jeannie’s son, Scottie (Devin Drewitz), the little brat swallows the coins, and before Andy and Kresk can whisk the child off to a fence in Paris, two local wiseguys kidnap him. As the chain of fools expands, Kresk frees Scottie but learns that Avnet isn’t dead. Can he retrieve coins before cops, assorted hit men or Avnet come calling?

Screenwriter Bik Skahill uses a RASHOMON-inspired structure, revisiting past events to reveal slightly skewed, incompatible versions of events. But one-named director elects to emphasize the script’s nasty streak, overworking the violence until the film’s tone shifts from snappy black comedy to sadistic farce. --Robert Pardi