Hacks (a.k.a. Sink or Swim and The Big Twist) is a 1997 American comedy film written and directed by Gary Rosen. The film premiered at the AFI Los Angeles Film Festival.
Contents
Plot
Brian is a television writer-producer who is working on creating a 22-episode show, but has writer's block and needs inspiration. He teams up with a group of writer friends to write about a sexual encounter he watches on a balcony.
He witnesses a strange romantic encounter between two figures on the balcony of a hotel near his flat and decides to write scripts with his writer friends based on what he saw.
Cast
Stephen Rea as Brian
Illeana Douglas as Georgia Feckler
John Ritter as Hank
Dave Foley as Neil
Richard Kind as Benny
Dusty Kay as Ira Gold
Tom Arnold as Danny
Robert Patrick as Goatee
Ryan O'Neal as Dr. Applefield
Jason Priestley as The Dude
Olivia d'Abo as Lynn
Lisa Kudrow as Reading
Bob Odenkirk as Cell
Reception
Leonard Klady of Variety magazine called it "a flip, intermittently amusing satire" and praised the cast but wrote: "the picture has little to offer in the way of insight or reflection and therefore won't translate outside of a small, insider crowd."