Nothing Sacred

A Phoenix pick

Last year Swingers injected life into the prematurely embalmed Generation X romantic-comedy genre. This year David Elliot and Mark Huppin nearly do the same with Nothing Sacred, which begins as a tepid copy of the earlier movie but rallies through sharp performances and dialogue and some genuine poignance to succeed in its own right.

Old friends Matt (Stephen Dunham), a callow womanizer, Darin (Paul Provenza), a discontented married man, and Kevin (John Gloria), the token dork, don't know what they want but know they want something. So in lieu of that, they decide to fuck up what they have, with Darin stepping out on his wife, Stephanie (Shannon Day), with old flame Max (Krista Taylor); Matt developing an unrequited passion for snobby beauty Anja (Ria Snyder); and Kevin screwing up in general. Although the occasional emotional sparks don't quite shake off the glib tone of wry hipness (that could hardly happen in a film with cameos by Penn Jillette, Don Novello, and "Weird" Al Yankovic), Nothing achieves in the end the rare virtues of wisdom, honesty, and humility. Screens at the Kendall Square Thursday at 7:45 and 10 p.m. and Friday at 2 and 4:15 p.m.

-- Peter Keough

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