This compulsive if somewhat distasteful drama is a look at an American family hitting the auto-destruct button behind its façade of normality. Joanna Kerns and Dan Lauria play the parents trying to cope with a teenage daughter who makes Beavis and Butt-head seem like adolescent role models. What starts off as a bad case of the sulks eventually sparks off the almost total disintegration of the family. The acting is commendable, but director Gregory Goodell backs away from making it truly nasty.

Fifteen-year-old Deena Marten wants the same freedom every teenager craves. But when she can't have her way, her rebellious temperament erupts in violence. Her parents, Cynthia and Todd, fear her new boyfriend, Garret, 17, is the cause. Distraught, Stephanie turns to alcohol, and Todd escapes in his work. They're unaware their Boy Scout son Adam, 13, sips from a vodka bottle hidden in his bedroom. And the problems in this dysfunctional family continue to worsen.