Went to Coney Island On a Mission From God...Be Back By Five (R) No Rating

You're in your 30s. Something bad happens and your buried hurts, repressed emotions, regrets, heartaches, weaknesses and betrayals brim to the surface. Sounds like fun, huh?

Story

Two friends (Jon Cryer and Rick Stear) find out that their missing high-school chum (Rafael Baez) is now insane and living at New York's decaying Coney Island amusement park. Naturally, the guys ditch work and set out in search of their bud, and spend an inordinate amount of time wandering around the ramshackle landmark, talking to a weirdo skeeball guy (Frank Whaley). Over time, one guy confronts his own alcoholism and the other deals with family problems. Oh, yeah, and they find their nutty friend.

Acting

This one's got a lot of indie cred: Whaley and Ione Skye have been doing the little-movie thing for years now, and Cryer is a veteran of Schenkman's "Pompatus." The best performance is from Baez, an up-and-coming actor whose depiction of mental illness (not an easy thing to do) is pretty disturbing.

Direction

This is the latest from Richard Schenkman, best known for the equally talky and lethargic "The Pompatus of Love," which also was about guys in their 30s (finally) confronting adulthood. Schenkman's style of writing a directing is slow, introspective and ultimately more suited to the confines of a small theater stage than the camera lens.

Bottom Line

An interesting character study, but if you've ever been to Coney Island, you'll be wondering why it takes these guys so long to investigate the place.

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Starring Jon Cryer, Rick Stear, Rafael Baez, Ione Skye and Frank Whaley.

Written and directed by Richard Schenkman. Produced by Jon Cryer and Richard Schenkman. Released by Phaedra Cinema