Who's in It: Colin Firth, Kevin Bacon, Alison Lohman
What's the Deal? Two 1950s entertainers who aren't Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis (Firth and Bacon) get themselves involved in a messy scandal involving a dead body in their hotel room and some steamy threegie sex that got this movie an NC-17 (it's now being released unrated). Things are kept on the hush for a good long time, until a snoopy reporter (Lohman) shows up and starts asking too many questions. Lots of weird tension, improbable chance meetings, fake-outs and falsehoods follow. Trashy and yet still sort of detached, this is a most bizarre noir.
Why This Director? When you're arty hotshot filmmaker Atom Egoyan, there probably aren't a lot of people around you not constantly telling you you're the great genius of moviemaking. You start thinking you can take on any movie you want, applying your elegant, icy, puzzle-box style to everything you touch, even if the subject matter feels more like stuff you'd see on E! True Hollywood Story.
Connection to "The Piña Colada Song": The movie is based on a 2003 crime novel by writer Rupert Holmes. Based on that song alone, you knew he could tell a compelling story, so don't act all surprised.
Ageism Alert: Male leads both in their 40s. Female lead in her 20s. Because there are no talented actresses in their 40s. Anywhere.
Dream Screening: It's completely fictional, of course. Martin and Lewis never had a three-way with a hot chick who ended up dead, but don't you want to be sitting next to Lewis when he watches this?