Depending on what you were expecting, "Bedrooms and Hallways" could be an enjoyable rollicking barrel of laughs, or a disappointing comedy of mores that fails to live up to its own aspirations and pedigree. Rose Troche, who directed the no-budget comedy "Go Fish", has fashioned a modern-day exploration of sexual identity with a light and deft touch, but continuously undermines her film with a seeming determination to turn the material into a two hour situation comedy.

The film opens with the surprise celebration of Leo's (Kevin McKidd) thirtieth birthday. Gathered at his home are his friends, all of whom have played an important part in shaping the events that Leo flashes back to during the course of the film. It seems Leo was a disillusioned, single man, resigned to celibacy after being burnt too many times in love, sharing a flat with the flamboyant Darren (Tom Hollander) who keeps urging him to have torrid sexual affairs - much the same way he carries on with an unscrupulous realtor Jeremy (Hugo Weaving) with a penchant for conducting sexual liaisons in houses he's been commissioned to sell. Reluctantly joining a supremely neurotic and hilarious men's support group led by a new age guru, Keith (Simon Callow), Leo develops a crush on fellow member Branden (James Purefoy) who's just separated from his longtime girlfriend Sally (Jennifer Ehle). Confessing his feelings during one session, Leo is surprised when Branden begins to show signs of switching teams in the sexual olympics. Soon embroiled in an affair with Branden, Leo's life comes to a crashing halt when Branden reveals a desire for a polygamous relationship, and, it is revealed that Sally and Leo share a romantic history that may not have been fully played out till now. As sexual hijinks ensue, Leo begins to fall back into his disillusionment, and it takes a lucky twist of fate for Darren to help his friend back on his feet, and possibly fall in love with someone - man or woman - again.

The talented (and almost unrecognizable) Kevin McKidd is superbly cast as Leo, displaying a flair for frothy romantic comedy and grounding his character's multiple arcs with a basic sense of decency that makes Leo likable and vulnerable. McKidd, best remembered for his very different roles in "Trainspotting" and "Small Faces", is a charismatic performer who charms the audience and draws them into the somewhat far-fetched shenanigans devised by scripter Robert Farrar. This is especially important because, while director Troche's handling of the material is often straightforward and direct, propelling the multiple plots along very nicely, her vision seems at odds with the tone the scripters are trying to strike with the material. Although the lines are polished and the set up sophisticated and suitably convoluted for a farce, Troche sledgehammers proceedings by injecting liberal doses of sitcom humor - while these provide easy and entertaining laughs, they don't quite keep the more serious elements of the plot in focus, and consequently, the film ends up being light and bubbly when it could have been funny yet compelling and thought-provoking.

Taken as it is, "Bedrooms and Hallways" (so titled, no doubt, to remind audiences of shows like "Upstairs, Downstairs") is a hugely enjoyable film, nonetheless. Apart from McKidd's engaging turn, Jennifer Ehle (best known as Elizabeth Bennet in the latest BBC "Pride and Prejudice" opposite Colin Firth) does a commendable job with a role that is underwritten and quite contradictory at different points in the film. The rest of the ensemble, including stalwart thesp Callow and the rubber-faced Weaving, do their jobs well, with Tom Hollander a stand-out in the by-now stereotypical and over-done role of the campy gay flatmate.

It seems such a pity that Rose Troche chose to approach her film in a resolutely non-serious mode. While the comedy in the film is truly hilarious - with the scenes from the men's group bordering on inspired lunacy - it would have been so much nicer if she had taken the seeds of questioning and threads of seriousness inherent in the material and explored them deeper and in a more meaningful way. Great fun could have also been greatly interesting.

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