Best Laid Plans (1999)

A privileged young man (Josh Brolin) who comes from a wealthy family returns to the small town he grew up in. After he picks up a girl (Reese Witherspoon) in a bar and has sex with her, she informs him she's going to call the police and tell them she was raped. In a drunken panic, he beats the girl up and ties her up and calls on a friend (Alessandro Nivola) to help him get out of this mess. Directed by Mike Barker, this is a nasty piece of goods. All the characters (and I do mean all) are screw ups and losers. How does one relate to or have any empathy for losers who are directly responsible for the crap they find themselves in? Maybe with a better director at the helm and a more observant screenplay, we might have found some empathy for their situation but at every turn, I kept thinking, "you idiots!". Witherspoon brings as much grace to her character as she can but it's a losing battle. The movie paints itself into a corner so there's no way out that avails itself of any shreds of sympathy. With Terrence Howard, Jamie Marsh and Rocky Carroll.