Living In Oblivion helmer DiCillo directs this more ambitious feature about the relationships between a number of Hollywood wannabes in modern LA. Modine plays a down-on-his-luck stage actor with high standards that even he can't meet - when asked if he's prepared to do a soap opera, he asks if there is any 'real' acting available. Make-up artist partner Keener is getting ever more tired of supporting her beau and seeks out an outlet for her increasing frustration.

His friend, the underrated Caulfield, plays it straight as a smarmy but insecure soap actor, whose big break on a cheesy daytime show leads him to pursue his hunt for his perfect woman (the Real Blonde of the title) after a string of disappointing relationships. Bridgette plays the beautiful model he meets thanks to his new found fame, and he has to choose between her and Hannah, his soap co-star and another Real Blonde.

This is blessed by a top-notch supporting cast (Christopher Lloyd, Kathleen Turner and others), and the showbiz setting is wonderfully counterpointed with Modine and Keener's home life, which is all angst and sexual frustration. However, it often seems that the issues on display have been spread too thinly on the ground and DiCillo (also the screenwriter) has no desire to explore anything in any depth. However, it never descends to the superficiality level of the soap opera life it mocks so effectively, it remains a sweet film full of astute observation, funny set-pieces (Modine's Madonna video outing is especially funny) and great characters.

Bridgette especially displays a wonderful sense of comic timing, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that she can handle a role such as this with depth and sensitivity. Her character is the apparently dumb-blonde model Sahara, whose entire life philosophy seems to be based on hidden messages in Disney movies (she insists that there is at least one in every single feature). Her childlike innocence lends a poignancy to the modelling scenes, which get progressively more exploitative.

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