Taye Diggs

15 years after the college when they have started a new life with a well to do life-style when the college friends reunite, the long forgotten rivalries and love strikes back.

A helicopter circles over the Panamanian jungle. On board is a team of Army Ranger trainees and their instructor, Master Sergeant Nathan West (Samuel L. Jackson). Their objective is to move through the jungle in hurricane weather, use live ammo to hit pop-up metal targets, then rendezvous at a small bunker. Seventeen hours later, Colonel Bill Styles (Timothy Daly) is aboard a helicopter searching for the same team he had expected back on base a long time ago. He witnesses three of his rangers, later identified as Ray Dunbar, Second Lieutenant Levi Kendall and Mueller, emerge from the jungle. However, things seem to have gone horribly wrong as Dunbar and Mueller are shooting at each other and Kendall is unconscious on Dunbar's shoulders. Dunbar kills Mueller in self-defense. The rest of the team, including West, are not found and presumed dead. In an interrogation room back on base, Captain Julia Osborne (Connie Nielsen) makes little headway with Dunbar, who refuses to talk. He is given a pad of paper on which he writes that he will only speak to a fellow Ranger, someone from outside the base, and draws an "8" inside a circle on the piece of paper. Noticeably spooked upon seeing the 8, base commander, Colonel Styles calls in a friend and experienced interrogator, Tom Hardy (John Travolta). Hardy, an ex-Ranger who quit the army, is now a DEA agent who is presently under investigation for suspicion of bribery. We also find out that Hardy served under West when he was a Ranger and hated him. Hardy and Osborne, initially wary of each other, are forced to work together during the 6 hours they are given before the CID transportation from Washington will arrive to take Dunbar and Kendall away to initiate an investigation. Styles wants to provide as many answers as possible before they take over so their investigation can be as quiet as possible. Osborne doesn't approve Hardy's involvement in her investigation because of his messy resume but does come around when Hardy strikes a conversation with Dunbar, who, until now, had not uttered a single word, proving he is more qualified than he looks. The audience learns through Dunbar that West is infamous for being a ruthless, tough-as-nails sergeant. One trainee in Dunbar's unit, a black soldier named Pike, earned West's wrath more than any other. Pike was selected for the Panama training mission along with Dunbar, Kendall, Mueller and two other soldiers, Nunez and Castro. Since he seemed to have plenty of reasons to hate West, it is suggested that Pike had enough motive to murder him. At this point, Dunbar refuses to say anything more but confirms that the other members of the team and West are all dead. Hardy and Osborne then visit the other surviving team member, Second Lieutenant Levi Kendall, who is recovering from gunshot wounds sustained during the mission. It is revealed that Kendall is the son of a Joint Chiefs of Staff general. At the hospital, Hardy runs into Dr. Peter Vilmer (Harry Connick Jr.), an old friend, and also Osborne's on-again, off-again lover. Kendall reveals that he's gay and once had a homosexual relationship with another soldier that became public. His father pulled some strings to have Kendall transferred to West's unit to cover up the scandal. He claims West hated him for that. He also claims that West silently threatened his life in the helicopter, shortly before the mission began. Kendall was partnered with Castro for the mission and feared that West may have bribed Castro to give him a "training accident". Kendall explains that during the exercise, they found West dead, apparently hit in the back with a white phosphorus grenade, and that Pike later confessed to the crime, thinking that his comrades would go along with it. However, the team decided to turn Pike in when they would be picked up the next morning. In the middle of the night, Pike tried to rouse Kendall's sympathies by playing to their mutual hatred of West. Pike proposed they kill Mueller and Nunez and persuade Dunbar and Castro to back them up. Kendall dismissed Pike's proposal and went back to his sleeping area. He later spotted Pike whispering to Dunbar. According to Kendall, Dunbar then went back to his bag, retrieved his pistol and aimed it at a sleeping Mueller. Kendall intervened and caused Mueller to shoot Castro. After Castro was hit, he fired frantically striking Nunez, Kendall and Pike. Nunez and Pike were killed, and Kendall was wounded. Dunbar then carried the wounded Kendall on his back through the jungle, exchanged fire with Mueller, and was picked up, as seen in the beginning of the movie. When asked why Dunbar would go through all the trouble of carrying him out of the jungle, Kendall suggests that perhaps Dunbar expected him to cover for him in gratitude for saving his life. Hardy and Osborne confronts Dunbar with Kendall's revelations. An angry Dunbar claims that Kendall is lying and that he didn't shoot West. He also claims that Mueller and Castro were selling prescription drug injection kits called "combat cocktails" which help dull physical pain and sharpen the mind, and that Kendall was in on it. Hardy refuses Dunbar's drug story because he thinks Dunbar only said drugs to get Hardy's attention as a DEA agent. The argument leads to a fist fight and Hardy almost leaves the base angry with Osbourne trying to convince him to stay. However, their argument stops when Hardy remembers Dunbar's words about not shooting West. He realizes that, according to Kendall's story, West was not shot but hit with a phosphorus grenade. Hardy starts to believe Dunbar doesn't know how West really was killed. They return to Dunbar to listen to the rest of his story. Dunbar explains that the grenade was used to lure West at a specific point where Mueller shot him because he was aware of their drug dealing. Mueller used Pike's grenade, which he had stolen from his pack earlier, to avoid suspicion. Back at the bunker, Mueller tried to pin the blame on Pike, but when Pike began pointing out evidence that threw suspicion on Mueller instead, a fierce argument began, Mueller lost his temper and shot Pike in the head. A firefight ensued and Castro and Nunez were killed. Dunbar rescued Kendall, hiked through the jungle, killed Mueller and was picked up by the helicopter. At Osborne's request, Dunbar provides proof of the alleged drug-dealing operation. He also says that it was Vilmer who supplied the drugs to Mueller and Castro. When Osborne and Hardy return to the hospital, they speak briefly with Dr. Vilmer. After a short interrogation, during which Osborne breaks his nose with a phone book, Vilmer admits that he distributed to Mueller and Kendall and that he falsified drug tests so that the soldiers would come up clean. Vilmer is then placed under arrest. Styles accepts Dunbars and Vilmers confessions as enough to close the investigation. When Osbourne suggests that Kendall should be questioned further since he lied the first time, Styles orders them to stay away from Kendall considering his father's status. Hardy and Osborne ignore the order and return to confront Kendall, who is acting odd and refuses to give them any useful information, even mocking them. He still claims that Dunbar is the guilty party. After a few minutes, Hardy notices that Kendall is bleeding out of his ears. Suddenly, Kendall starts vomiting blood and then abruptly dies. Right before Kendall dies he uses his blood soaked finger to draw the symbol for infinity in Osborne's hand. Styles is furious that Osborne and Hardy ignored his orders. He relieves Osborne of her duty and asks Hardy to leave. He informs them that Dunbar and Vilmer will be taken away shortly on the transport plane that has arrived from the U.S. and he considers the investigation closed. Osborne comments on Kendall's drawing in her hand when she realizes that he didn't draw the infinity symbol, but an 8. Remembering Dunbar's note which also had an 8, she shows this to Hardy, who first denies knowing what the 8 may symbolize. When she insists on pursuing her investigation even though they were just ordered to drop it, Hardy finally explains the conversation he had earlier with Styles about a rumored group of ex-Rangers in Panama, trained under West, who turned rogue and became drug-dealers. They call themselves Section 8. Osborne, mad at Hardy for not telling her sooner engages him in a fist fight that ends when Hardy tries to kiss her and she pulls her gun on him. After their scuffle, they return to the stockade where Vilmer, still in custody, remarks to Hardy and Osborne in an offhand manner that he will be on the same plane as Pike. Hardy corrects him, saying that he'll be on the same plane as Dunbar, but Vilmer says that's not right. He explains that Ray Dunbar is black. This means that the white "Dunbar" Hardy and Osborne have been questioning all night is in fact Pike, the man who West antagonized during training (according to his own story). Pike had switched his tags with Dunbar's in order to throw off the local authorities, then disappear after being transported for trial. The soldier files never specifies the soldier's ethnicity. Hardy and Osborne rush back to the base just as Pike is being taken onto a transport plane. Hardy grabs Pike and holds his face dangerously close to the plane's whirling propeller until Pike faints and drops to his knees. Afterwards, Hardy and Osborne lead Pike away to interrogate him again now that they know the truth. In Pike's new story, West was not shot. Pike claimed West knew about the real operation going on at the base, cocaine smuggling. He claims West confronted the Rangers in the bunker and told them that he would turn them in to authorities in the morning and tell Styles everything. A brief Mexican standoff ensued, and West escaped the bunker. Nuñez chased after him but got shot by West. Shortly after Castro and Mueller went looking for West. Later on, Pike and Kendall found Dunbar dead. West surprised them and shot Kendall, wounding him, and then tried to persuade Pike to surrender himself. Mueller then came out and managed to kill West. Pike shot at Mueller, and then, knowing that he would be blamed if West died, took Dunbar's dog tags. It is still thoroughly established that he managed to escape, carried Kendall through the jungle, killed Mueller and was picked up by the helicopter. To prove his story, he gives Hardy, Osborne and Styles, the number of a crate where Vilmer had stowed cocaine. Satisfied that they finally have their answers, Hardy and Styles retreat to Styles' office, unknowingly followed by Osborne who finds it odd that she was not invited to join them. Hardy tells Styles that he finds it odd that West didn't tell his colonel (Styles) about the drugs as soon as he suspected something. Hardy then accuses Styles of lying; he tells Styles that he believes West did in fact go to him, but that he was behind the drug trafficking operation the whole time. Rather than side with West, he ordered Mueller and Kendall to kill him and then poisoned Kendall afterward to keep him quiet. Styles laughs off the accusations, but as Hardy starts to leave, Styles offers him a percentage of the operation to keep his mouth shut, confirming he is indeed behind the whole drug operation. Hardy now understands why Styles called him to investigate. If he found anything, he could be easily discredited or bought. Hardy says he'll have to think about it and turns to leave. Styles draws his weapon to shoot Hardy but is shot and killed by Osborne who heard the whole exchange. After the Military Police wraps up the investigation into Styles' shooting, Hardy and Osborne have a coffee before they leave the base separately. Hardy tells Osborne not to worry about the charges and that she would be cleared. All she has to do is "Tell the story right". Osborne recalls hearing that same phrase during both Kendall and Pike's stories, particularly in describing how members of the conspiracy planned to cover up West's death. This makes Osborne suspect Hardy may be somehow involved, especially since he hated West and because Section 8 is rumored to contain many of West's former trainees. She tails him out of the base and watches as Pike suddenly runs out from some bushes and into Hardy's jeep. She follows them by car and then by foot through the streets of Panama City and watches as the two of them enter a doorway with a big eight ball hanging over it. Osborne sneaks up behind Hardy and Pike, with her weapon drawn, believing that they are Section 8 and are responsible for West's murder. She confronts Hardy with her own theories but becomes very confused when West, very much alive and well, walks up behind her and sits at the table with Pike and Hardy. Castro, Dunbar and Nuñez, also alive, come out of the kitchen and join them. They reveal to Osbourne that Section 8 is in fact a special black-ops anti-drug unit led by Tom Hardy himself. The mercenary stories are used as a cover to spook the cartels. Dunbar, Castro, Nunez and Pike (all fake names) infiltrated the base to investigate the cocaine trafficking that was going on, and discovered that Mueller, Kendall and Vilmer were responsible. West, not realizing that Styles was also involved, informed him of their findings, although keeping their involvement a secret. Styles responded by ordering Mueller and Kendall to kill West. The training mission was a set-up to get rid of Mueller and Kendall, and fake West's death. West joined Section 8, and Hardy went to the base to confirm Styles' and Vilmer's involvement. West and Hardy then offer Osborne a job within their group. The movie ends when it is revealed that Tom Hardy is not a DEA agent and never left the army. He's in fact, a Colonel.

A senator arranges for his son, a rich white kid who fancies himself black, to be kidnapped by a couple of black actors pretending to be murderers to try and shock him out of his plans to become a rapper. Brad Gluckman or "B-rad" acts like he is from the hood, when he is white and lives in a rich neighborhood in Malibu. He is ruining his fathers election for governor, and he and his crew come up with an idea, to send "B-rad" to the hood to turn him back into a white boy. This movie is filled with laughs and is a great comedy. Brad Gluckman (Kennedy) is a wannabe rap star from Malibu who acts and talks like he's from the "'hood." Concerned that his son is going to embarrass him during his campaign to become the governor of California, Brad's wealthy father and his campaign manager (Underwood), hire two trained actors (Diggs and Anderson) to disguise themselves as "real life gangstaz", and kidnap his son, dropping him off in the "real hood" in Compton, in an effort to scare the ghettofied attitude and behavior out of him. —Anonymous

Libria, a totalitarian city-state established by survivors of World War III, blames human emotion as the cause for the war. Any activity or object that stimulates emotion is strictly forbidden. Those in violation are labeled "Sense Offenders" and sentenced to death. The population is forced to take a daily injection of "Prozium II" to suppress emotion. Libria is governed by the Tetragrammaton Council, led by "Father" (Sean Pertwee), who communicates propaganda through giant video screens throughout the city. At the pinnacle of law enforcement are the Grammaton Clerics, trained in the martial art of gun Kata (which increases their gun efficiency by 120%, while keeping them safe from the known angles of return fire). Clerics frequently raid homes to search for and destroy illegal materials - art, literature and music - executing violators on the spot. A resistance movement, known as the "Underground", emerges to topple Father and the Tetragrammaton Council. In 2072, John Preston (Christian Bale) is a high-ranking Cleric whose wife, Viviana (Alexa Summer), was executed as a Sense Offender (by ignoring to take her Prozium and thereby feeling emotions), leaving him as a single parent of two. Following a raid, Preston notices his partner, Errol Partridge (Sean Bean), saves a book of poems by W. B. Yeats instead of turning it in for incineration. He checks the evidence center later and finds that Errol hasn't turned the book in, as per protocol. He follows Partridge to the Nether - a term for regions outside the city - and finds him reading the book. After seeing Preston, Partridge claims he gladly pays the heavy price of feeling emotion; Preston executes him as Partridge slowly reaches for his gun. Preston accidentally breaks a daily vial of Prozium and is unable to replace it before going on the next raid. Preston is supposed to report to the "Equilibrium" to get a replacement dose. The Equilibrium building is the command-and-control center of the Government, and heavily fortified. But before Preston walks, he is picked up by his new partner to accompany him on a raid. Brief episodes of emotion (sunlight, rain) set in evoking memories, stirring feelings, and making him more aware of his surroundings. He intentionally skips additional doses of Prozium, hiding them behind the mirror in his bathroom. Partridge is replaced with an ambitious, career-conscious Brandt (Taye Diggs), who expresses admiration for Preston's "uncompromising" work as a Cleric. On a raid, they arrest Sense Offender Mary O'Brien (Emily Watson). To Brandt's surprise, Preston prevents him from executing O'Brien (even after Mary tries to shoot Preston when he finds the hidden room where Mary had kept the old-world artifacts and promised her that he would find her associates), saying she should be kept alive for interrogation. Brandt grows suspicious of Preston's hesitation. Mary say that the point of her existence is to feel. Preston assigns Mary for "processing" at the palace of justice. Preston begins to feel remorse for killing Partridge and develops an emotional relationship with O'Brien. On one of the raids, after killing a group of resistance fighters who hit a Prozium factory, Prestn discovers a hidden basement with old world artifacts. Brandt is further suspicious when he saves a puppy from execution, who was found in the back yard of the resisters. Preston later returns to the nether to return the puppy, but is followed secretly by Brandt. Preston is found releasing the puppy by a team of police enforcers, who are about to shoot him. But Preston's gun Kata training kicks in and he decimates his opponents. Vice-Counsel DuPont (Angus Macfadyen) (who is the voice of the Father in public) meets with Preston to reveal that there is a traitor in the upper ranks of the Clerics. Although DuPont appears to know it is Preston, he assigns him the task of unmasking the traitor. Relieved, Preston accepts and promises to locate the Underground's leadership. At the next raid, Preston finds some resisters hidden behind the walls and allows them to escape. He again kills a team of police enforcers when the resisters are discovered. Brandt still finds the resisters and kills them off. But the resisters now consider Preston as an ally. Preston uncovers clues (He finds that Errol knew Mary. he questions Mary and follows the leads to a Govt building which was hiding the underground HQ) that lead to meeting Jurgen (William Fichtner), leader of the Underground. Jurgen is planning to disrupt Prozium production to spark a populace uprising and convinces Preston that Father must be assassinated. Meanwhile, O'Brien is set to be executed, and Jurgen advises against interfering believing it could sabotage plans for the revolution. Unable to bear her death, Preston attempts to stop the execution and fails. He has an emotional breakdown and is arrested by Brandt, who brings him before DuPont. Preston tricks DuPont into believing that Brandt is the traitor (It was Brandt's gun at the 2 massacres of the police enforcers, which Preston had switched with his own gun). Following Brandt's arrest, Preston is told that his home will be searched as a formality. He rushes home to destroy the hidden vials only to discover his son Robbie (Matthew Harbour), who stopped taking Prozium after his mother died, already has. Jurgen tells Preston to capture the leaders of the resistance to regain government trust, hoping it will get Preston close enough to assassinate Father. Preston is granted an exclusive audience with Father only to discover that Brandt was not arrested; it was part of a ruse to expose Preston and the Underground. DuPont reveals he is Father, having secretly replaced the original Father who died, and that he doesn't take Prozium to suppress emotion. He taunts Preston, asking how it felt to betray the Underground. Enraged, Preston fights his way through an army of bodyguards to DuPont's office, confronting and killing Brandt in a Katana battle. DuPont and Preston engage in a gun Kata showdown. Preston wins as DuPont pleads for his life asking, "Is it really worth the price?" Paying homage to Partridge's last words, he responds, "I pay it gladly" and kills DuPont. He destroys the command center that broadcasts Father propaganda. Preston watches with satisfaction from above as the Underground destroys Prozium manufacturing plants, signaling the beginning of the revolution.

Parker (Ryan Phillippe) and Longbaugh (Benicio Del Toro) are two born troublemakers who travel anywhere they can to find or steal money any way they can. They realize that a pint of blood can get $50, and a shot of sperm can bring in $3000. So, they head to a fertility clinic. While at a sperm donation facility, they overhear a telephone conversation detailing a $1,000,000 payment to a surrogate mother for bearing the unborn baby of Hal Chidduck (Scott Wilson). They learn that Chidduck's wife is healthy but could not be bothered to carry her own child. The surrogate is always surrounded by bodyguards and is told when to do anything including eating and sleeping. They learn that Dr Allen Painter is attending to the surrogate. Parker and Longbaugh resolve to kidnap the pregnant surrogate, Robin (Juliette Lewis). Their attempts to kidnap Robin at her pregnancy clinic escalate into a shootout with her bodyguards, Jeffers (Taye Diggs) and Obecks (Nicky Katt). After the shootout, in which two other guards and bystanders are killed, the kidnappers escape with Robin and elude Jeffers and Obecks, who are arrested. During the shootout, Parker had a clear shot at both Jeffers and Obecks and decided not to take it, letting them know that he had the shot, and he let them live. As the fugitives' head South, Jeffers and Obecks are bailed out and returned to Chidduck by Joe Sarno (James Caan), a seasoned operative and close friend of Chidduck's. As Sarno begins coordinating Robin's rescue, Longbaugh contacts the surrogate's gynecologist, Dr. Allen Painter (Dylan Kussman), and orders him to a truck stop to examine Robin. Sarno was keeping Painter under observation and follows him as soon as he leaves his clinic. Painter explains that Robin is carrying the child of money launderer Hale Chidduck and his wife, Francesca (Kristin Lehman), who are rich. Painter says that Robin should have the baby within no later than 6 days. Longbaugh makes a deal with Painter that he would come to Mexico when they call him, to induce Robin's labor. After the examination, Painter returns to Chidduck and Painter is revealed to be Chidduck's son. Meanwhile Chidduck is under pressure not to pay the ransom as that would invite the Federal authorities to look into his books and that would be the end of his money laundering business. Joe advises Chidduck to surround the kidnappers and negotiate for Robin, in exchange for their lives. Longbaugh calls and demands a $15 million ransom for the safe return of Robin and the baby. Francesca is having an affair with Jeffers and overhears his and Obecks' plan to recover the baby but kill the kidnappers, Robin, and Painter. Jeffers and Obecks, tempted by the money, begin forming a plan to save the child, keep the $15 million for themselves, and kill everyone under the guise of paying off the kidnappers. As Longbaugh hangs up the telephone outside a Mexican motel, he is approached by Sarno, who offers to pay $1 million if they surrender the pregnant Robin and simply walk away. They commiserate about the state of their underworld professions, filled with characters who "want to be criminals more than they want to commit crimes", and guardedly go their separate ways, but Sarno leaves his associate Abner (Geoffrey Lewis) to watch the kidnappers. Longbaugh declines the offer and returns to his motel room, where Parker and Robin are playing cards. Robin reveals to Parker and Longbaugh that Francesca's embryo failed to implant, and Painter is actually the father of her child. Proceeding with the ransom plan, Jeffers and Obecks realize that Robin is Sarno's daughter. Sarno then returns to Chidduck's home to relay the events and plan the next step. Jeffers and Obecks realize that Sarno is a wild card in this affair, and Jeffers comes to realize that Robin is Sarno's daughter. Jeffers, Obecks and Painter leave to meet with the kidnappers, while Sarno departs separately with the $15 million ransom. At the motel, Parker is having second thoughts on the kidnapping. As he confers with Longbaugh outside the motel room, Robin takes the opportunity to seize a shotgun and barricade herself in the motel room after almost shooting Parker. As sirens are heard in the distance, Parker and Longbaugh hastily escape, and Robin emerges into the parking lot just as Mexican police officers arrive, followed by Jeffers, Obecks and Painter in another car. As Painter and the bodyguards try to persuade Robin to leave with them, the officers pull their guns and order everybody onto the ground. Suddenly, Parker and Longbaugh open fire from a nearby hilltop, igniting a fierce firefight that kills the two officers before Jeffers shoves Painter and Robin into his car and drives off, leaving the dead officers and a wounded Obecks in the motel parking lot. Parker and Longbaugh torture Obecks to gain Robin's location, while Jeffers confines Robin in the room of a secluded Mexican brothel and a mortally wounded Abner notifies Sarno. Jeffers forces Painter to perform a C-section to retrieve the baby, despite Robin's confession that the child was conceived between her and Painter and is not Chidduck's. During the operation, the heavily armed Parker and Longbaugh infiltrate the brothel and search for Robin. The ensuing ambush, which leaves Parker wounded, turns into another standoff, with Jeffers threatening to kill Painter and the baby before Painter kills Jeffers with a hidden gun. Outside the brothel, Sarno arrives with a group of bag men and the $15 million ransom, which they stack in the courtyard. Parker wants to kidnap Robin and Painter again, but Longbaugh, guilt-ridden after seeing her condition, responds: "She's had enough". Despite realizing that the $15 million is bait, Parker and Longbaugh charge headlong into an ambush. All of Sarno's men are killed in the ensuing gunfight. However, Sarno manages to shoot and cripple the already wounded Parker and Longbaugh, and then calls for an ambulance. As a child's cries break the silence, Painter emerges with Robin, newborn baby in her arms. Lying in a pool of blood, Parker and Longbaugh call out to Sarno, informing him that the baby is in fact Robin and Painter's, and thus Sarno's own grandson. Painter wonders aloud if this fact will influence Sarno to let them keep the child. Robin and her baby are then taken away in the ambulance with Painter, Sarno and the $15 million, leaving Parker and Longbaugh to bleed out. Miles away and days later, Chidduck's wife reveals that she's pregnant (possibly from Jeffers, with whom she was having an affair).

Just before his best friend's wedding, the life of a Chicago writer becomes crazy when his best friend guesses that his new book's story is based on his bride's fervent past. Harper's autobiographical novel is almost out, his girlfriend Robin desires commitment, and he's best man at the wedding of Lance, a pro athlete. He goes to New York early (Robin will come for the wedding) to hang out with Lance and other friends, including Jordan, his former almost-lover, now in media and privy to an advance copy of the book. The men discuss women, never facing their own double standard; Jordan wants to try again with Harper, at least for one night; and Harper fears that Lance will read his book and learn that the bride-to-be slept with him once to avenge Lance's many affairs. Can Harper mature before Lance kills him, Jordan seduces him, and he loses Robin? —<jhailey@hotmail.com>

While dealing with a friend's cold feet on his wedding day, a writer reminisces about his youth with his best friends. On the wedding day of a writer's friend, things aren't looking good when the groom goes missing before the ceremony. During his and his other male friend's effort to retrieve him, that writer named Mike can't help but tell the story of his youth with his friends. Ever since he met them on his first day at a new school, they shared the common experiences of growing up and life's discoveries. —Kenneth Chisholm <kchishol@execulink.com> Inglewood, an L.A. burb, is the Wood, home to a largely Black middle class, where Mike, Slim, and Roland have been best friends since junior high. It's three hours before Roland is to marry, and he has very cold feet. Mike and Slim must sober him up and help him decide if he wants to go through with the wedding. In flashbacks, they recall key moments of their friendship, the rites of passage of boys to men. Mike is the principal narrator, arriving in the Wood from North Carolina, nervous and shy. In addition to male friendship and wedding-day jitters, the story explores Mike's long-term connection to Alicia, his lovely and together first sweetheart. —<jhailey@hotmail.com>

The film is told out of chronological format, the story being told from four different points of view. As such, the following summary only generalizes the actual sequence of events which take place. Ronna's story It is Christmas Eve in Los Angeles. Adam (Scott Wolf) and Zack (Jay Mohr), a couple of TV soap opera actors, have been busted for narcotics possession. In a plea deal, they will help Officer Burke (William Fichtner) set up a sting operation for Simon (Desmond Askew), an occasional drug dealer who sells ecstasy from his cash register at a local grocery store. Unbeknownst to them, Simon has taken a vacation to Las Vegas. Filling in at his register is Ronna (Sarah Polley), an 18-year-old runaway and high school dropout who is facing eviction and desperate for the extra paid hours of income. When the actors ask about Simon and where they might buy some ecstasy, Ronna recognizes a lucrative financial opportunity. She offers to "see what she can do" for them, taking down their address. They give her a flier with the details of a rave later that evening. After work, Ronna and co-worker friends Claire (Katie Holmes) and Mannie (Nathan Bexton) debate the underground drug trade "rules," such as circumventing Simon to become competing dealers themselves. Ronna decides this will be a one-time-only deal and proceeds to Simon's drug supplier, Todd (Timothy Olyphant). Todd is suspicious of Ronna's sudden interest in dealing drugs, and that the quantity she has requested is the exact amount that constitutes a drug trafficking felony. Reluctantly, he offers to sell her the drugs at a higher price. Unprepared for the price hike, she offers to leave collateral in exchange for bringing the balance back after the sale is complete, and bullies Claire into being the collateral. Ronna and Mannie then proceed to Adam and Zack's pre-rave party at their apartment. Ronna goes inside to complete the deal, while Mannie stays in the car and downs two of the pills he swiped from the bottle. Inside at the "party", there's only Adam and Zack behaving uncomfortably, along with an older man (Officer Burke, the undercover officer) who seems overly focused on finishing the drug deal. Ronna quickly realizes something is amiss here, so she asks to use the restroom before completing the deal. When Zack turns to show Ronna the way to the bathroom, he whispers "Go!" to her. She goes into the bathroom, flushes the drugs down the toilet, and emerges empty-handed. She tells Burke she wasn't able to obtain the drugs after all, and to defend herself from further scrutiny, notes to Burke that she is underage to be drinking the beer he gave her. Realizing he is now on surveillance giving alcohol to a minor, and without evidence to hold her, Burke lets Ronna go. Ronna, in a state of panic, ponders her situation with Mannie, who is slowly succumbing to the effects of the pills he took. She doesn't have the money to buy Claire's release from Todd, and now she has no drugs to sell. In desperation, she shoplifts a large supply of over-the-counter medication from her own grocery store. Finding pills roughly the same appearance as the ecstasy pills, she refills Todd's bottle and returns to his apartment. She explains to Todd that the deal fell through, gives the "stash" back to him, and frees Claire from collateral duty. Ronna realizes that she's still facing eviction and decides to attend the rave to sell the remaining medication as ecstasy. Her scam works, and she quickly makes more then enough money to cover her rent. Meanwhile, Todd has discovered the fake pills and shows up at the rave to settle the score. He sees Ronna and Mannie from afar and chases them through the dancing crowd. Mannie is too high to run and is slowing them both down. Ronna hides Mannie behind a piece of sheet metal in a back alleyway, tells him to keep quiet until she comes back, and runs off alone. Todd catches up to Ronna in the parking lot. He has a few last words with her about the nature of the illegal drug trade, and takes out a gun intent on killing her. At that very moment, a yellow Mazda Miata swerves around a corner of the parking lot at high speed and squarely hits Ronna, catapulting her onto its roof. It then shoots forwards and stops suddenly, sending her flying into a ditch. The driver, in panic from seeing Todd with a gun, flees the scene. Todd leaves Ronna for dead and flees as well as it begins to rain. Ronna lies motionless in the ditch. Simon's story Earlier.... After recruiting Ronna to cover his shift at the grocery store, Simon goes off with three of his friends Marcus (Taye Diggs), Tiny (Breckin Meyer), and Singh (James Duval) for some adventures in Las Vegas, footing their hotel bill with the credit card he had borrowed from Todd. Shortly after arriving, Tiny and Singh develop bad cases of diarrhoea from eating some bad seafood at the hotel's buffet restaurant and are stuck in their hotel room while Simon and Marcus hit the casino. Simon quickly loses much of his money and then wanders into a wedding party on the premises. There, he meets two female guests, with whom he eventually smokes pot and has sex (both of them). One of the women accidentally starts a fire in her hotel room, causing Simon to flee naked (clothes in tow) in an elevator. Putting his clothes back on, he meets up with Marcus back in the casino. Marcus's yellow sports coat gets him mistaken for a hotel employee, even earning him a tip when a customer mistakes him for a bathroom attendant. This eventually works to his advantage, though, when another hotel guest assumes Marcus is a parking valet and hands him the keys to his Ferrari. Simon and Marcus jump at this golden opportunity to take the red Ferrari for a spin, winding up at the Crazy Horse strip club. En route, Simon discovers a 9 mm pistol in the glove compartment, which he pockets for himself. At the strip club, Marcus warns Simon not to order "champagne" - strip club code for a private lap dance they cannot afford - however, Simon does precisely that, and he heads to a back room with two dancers and Marcus in tow. Before the lap dance commences, they receive a stern warning from menacing Victor Junior (Jimmy Shubert), one of the bouncers and the son of the club owner, to behave like gentlemen and not touch the dancers "or else." Simon hands the bouncer Todd's credit card and he and Marcus enter the back room; the lap dances have barely begun when Simon loses his self-control and gropes his dancer. Victor Jr. immediately bursts into the room and begins beating him. Marcus tries to defend Simon and is himself attacked by the bouncer. Simon then draws the gun he found and shoots Victor Jr., wounding him in the arm. Simon and Marcus hastily flee the premises and head back to the hotel. Simon and Marcus rush into their room and roust up the sickly Tiny and Singh, telling them they have 30 seconds to get up and out. Before they can flee, the Victors Jr. and Sr. (J.E. Freeman) arrive at their door, so Simon and crew bribe a young boy staying in the next room to open the connecting door for their escape. After a frantic car chase down the Las Vegas Strip, Simon and his three friends manage to elude their pursuers and reach the highway back to Los Angeles and drive away in the light of dawn in Simon's damaged car. They believe they are safe, reasoning that their pursuers would have called the police in Vegas...or so they think. What Simon forgets is that it was Todd's credit card he left back at the strip club. Adam and Zack's story Earlier... Adam and Zack are actually closeted gay lovers forced to be decoys in a police sting operation, in exchange for having their own drug charges dropped. In the grocery store parking lot, they test out their hidden microphones; inside, they look for Simon, their usual dealer, but find only Ronna. Later, after the sting with Ronna goes bad, Burke handcuffs Zack, then makes a bizarre suggestion: Why don't they spend Christmas Eve at his house and have dinner? Nervous, they reluctantly accept his invitation. It is an odd atmosphere in the house, and Zack and Adam have odd encounters with Burke and his wife Irene (Jane Krakowski). Zack comes out of the bathroom and runs into Burke completely nude; Burke urges him to lie down on his bed and try out some cologne. Adam, meanwhile, meets Irene, who comes on to him and even kisses him full on the lips. Later, when the four sit down to Christmas dinner, Burke explains that he and his wife are the fourth leading sales team in the region for Confederated Products, an Amway-type retail company, and that virtually everything in the house from the food to the cologne is from the company. Burke wants Adam and Zack to sell Confederated products for him. Zack then gets Adam to feign illness to excuse themselves, and they leave the house, both of them uneasy from the evening's events. Adam and Zack engage in small talk and discover that both of them are cheating on each other with the same man, Jimmy, a makeup artist in their television studio. They go to Jimmy's apartment and find out from his sister that he is attending the same rave that they had earlier advertised to Ronna. Adam and Zack show up and get revenge on their mutual two-timing lover by holding Jimmy down and cutting a sizable chunk of his long hair. Satisfied, they leave the party, get into Adam's yellow Miata and barrel into Ronna, sending her flying into the ditch. Then they see a man with a drawn pistol (Todd) and, terrified, flee the scene. They stop at a gas station and try to figure out what to do, debating whether Ronna survived the accident and, if so, whether or not the man with the gun finished her off. Adam goes to the toilet where he realizes that he is still wearing the hidden microphone from earlier that afternoon. Panicked, they throw the devices away and drive back to the spot where they hit Ronna. They find her still lying in the ditch, unconscious but alive, and hoist her on top of a nearby car with the alarm blaring. They watch in satisfaction from afar as other partygoers discover Ronna early the next morning and call an ambulance for her. Conclusion It is dawn now, and Claire, who does not know what happened to Ronna, leaves the rave and goes to the diner where she usually meets Ronna when they get separated. She encounters Todd; they engage in small talk, then realize they are attracted to each other. They end up kissing and groping in the stairwell of Todd's house, where they are discovered by none other than Victor Jr. and Victor Sr., the Crazy Horse bouncer and owner whom are after Simon and have tracked him through Todd's credit card. Todd explains they have the wrong man; he begins to draw out directions to Simon's place, when Simon himself walks into Todd's apartment ironically, to seek refuge from the bouncers. At first they want to kill him, but Claire points out that she and Todd would be witnesses to the crime. So an "eye for an eye" deal is struck where Victor Jr. gets to shoot Simon in the arm. Just as he is about to get justice, performance anxiety suddenly springs upon Junior and he cannot bring himself to pull the trigger. Claire gets impatient and leaves during his hesitations; as she gets halfway down the hall she hears a gunshot. She flinches and shuts her eyes. Simon calls out: "It's all right... I'm okay!" Meanwhile, Ronna wakes up in the hospital recovered enough to return to work, happy that, despite the night's batterings, she did indeed make enough money to save herself from eviction. She talks with Claire and suddenly realizes to her horror that she never went back for Mannie, who is presumably still hidden where she left him. Ronna and Claire return to the scene and find Mannie still there, shivering and terrified, but otherwise okay. They all get into Ronna's car and drive away, and Mannie wonders aloud what they'll do for New Year's Day just a week away.