Eric Bogosian's solo stage act is actually a ten-man show, with the writer/actor performing ten separate, unconnected monologues loosely organized around the defining addictions of American male culture (the list could be extended to include, in descending order of obsession: money, sports, cars, television, and sleep). The show works almost like an extended résumé of possible character roles, ranging from a hard luck panhandler to an aging rock star, and from an arrogant corporate executive to a stoned artist suffering from paranoid claustrophobia. The film is simply a document of Bogosian's act, filmed in front of a live Boston audience with minimal interference from director John McNaughton and ace cinematographer Ernest Dickerson. It can't hope to compare with the actual live stage experience (any sort of editing, no matter how discreet, disrupts the continuity), but the explosive, cathartic, and often hilarious outbursts by the actor's alter egos are never less than compelling, and each character reveals another side of Bogosian's extraordinary verbal talent.
Review of Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll
