An aluminum siding salesman Jimmy Alto (Joe Pesci) moves to Hollywood to become an actor. He even rents an ad on a bench. He even comes close a few times to get apart.

The one time he leaves his radio in his car it is misappropriated leaving a broken window in the process. Jimmy upset decides to film the perpetrator in the act. He enlists the help of his forgetful buddy William (Christian Slater). His successes with the operation and the 56-second spot on the news, makes him realize that this is "Acting". His friend signed a note to the police with the initials SOS, thus starting the invention of an organization called "Save Our Streets.

Everything starts to snowball from here. The police think they are up against another SLA. The people think it is another Charles Bronson. William does not think. Jimmy thinks he is acting. And Jimmy's on and off girl Lorraine (Victoria Abril) thinks he is for real and does not know it.

What do you think?

Jimmy sees himself as a method actor, dedicated to his craft, but he can't land a part. That's similar to Dustin Hoffman's role in "Tootsie", which Barry Levinson is connected to by some uncredited writing. The similarity does not end there.

Director Barry Levinson would have done well to heed the old line that if you are going to go up to the bell, ring it. Levinson flirts many times with themes much larger than this small film, but he never stays with them.

The vapidity of celebrity, the seedy death of Hollywood, even indications of the descent into madness all are brought up but are not followed through. And flashes of brilliance throughout the film are forgotten as the credits roll because of the cheap Hollywood ending.

Levinson certainly had a capable cast. Joe Pesci, Victoria Abril (in a rare English-first roll), and an astonishingly effective performance by Christian Slater are wasted as this film runs from theme to theme but never focuses long enough to flesh out the thoughts. Even the comedy becomes sporadic in the latter half of the film.

This is worth a rental just to see how a potentially good movie about Hollywood is damaged by its conventions.