Sunset Strip (2000) (R) No Rating

In and around L.A.'s famed Sunset Strip circa 1972, the lives of several musicians and industry hangers-on intertwine over a 24-hour period.

Story

A photographer (Simon Baker), a fashion designer (Anna Friel), a young guitarist (Nick Stahl), a struggling songwriter (Rory Cochran), a southern rocker (Jared Leto), a talent manager (Adam Goldberg), and the British rock star of the moment (Tommy J. Flanagan): all up-and-coming dreamers, all tied together by a pair of gigs at the Whisky A Go Go, a famous nightclub on the Strip. They work their way through album-cover shoots, dressing-closet shagging, motel room ODs, performances at the Whisky, after-parties, coffee and cigarettes at Canter's Deli -- and passing along the clap.

Acting

"Strip" boasts a well-cast selection of live fast, die young and leave a good-looking corpse actors. Goldberg ("Saving Private Ryan") steals the show as the coke-sniffing, 'fro-picking talent agent who preaches good vibes. Girl-next-door Anna Friel ("Rogue Trader") centers the action with her empathetic relationship juggling. Glasgow's Tommy J. Flanagan ("Braveheart") projects believable disaffected-rock-star charisma. Nick Stahl ("Disturbing Behavior") wields a mean guitar convincingly, and Jared Leto ("My So-Called Life") amuses as a self-centered but good-natured Southern-fried Axl Rose type.

Direction

Attempting a mini-"Nashville" for the rock 'n' roll scene, debut director Adam Collis (helmer of the short film "'Mad' Boy, I'll Blow Your Blues Away. Be Mine") mounts a great-looking production and directs with a sure hand. Unfortunately, great cinematography and wild period costumes cannot smokescreen Randall Jahnson's ("The Doors") woefully lean screenplay. Assuming the 1972 vibe alone will transport viewers to the scene, Jahnson's tale fails to create pivotal moments for these characters and intertwines their pathways in the least creative manner imaginable. A redeeming factor of "Strip," however, is the powerful soundtrack, which refrains from more obvious musical choices to deliver first-rate alternative tracks of the early '70s.

Bottom Line

Despite Afros and bell-bottoms and all the pot smoke at The Whisky, the sun can't set fast enough on this meager, stripped-down story.

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Starring Jared Leto, Anna Friel, Simon Baker, Rory Cochrane and Nick Stahl.

Directed by Adam Collis. Produced by Art and John Linson. Screenplay by Russell Degrazier and Randall Jahnson. Released by Fox.