The usual quirky charm of writer/director Tom DiCillo (Living in Oblivion, Box of Moonlight) deserts him in this grating comedy. Denis Leary gives a typically one-note performance as the cop whose debilitating back problem scuppers an attempt at heroism and makes him the laughing stock of New York, while a decorative Elizabeth Hurley plays his chiropractor (and love interest) in a way that suggests her comic assurance in Austin Powers was something of a fluke. DiCillo's ability to create droll supporting characters also comes unstuck with an obvious and unfunny subplot about a pair of budding screenwriters who are concocting a Tarantino-style movie. The film's dramatic ambitions, involving the brutal murder of one of Leary's neighbours, are similarly ineffectual. A total misfire from start to finish.

Ray Pluto has many problems. He is satirized in the tabloids as the "loser cop." His partner is starting to seem suspiciously attracted to him. A pair of screenwriters across the hall keep bugging him for help. The superintendent of his building is stabbed by hoodlums hired by his own rebellious daughter. To top it off, a sexually aggressive chiropractor may just be Ray's undoing.