Dismally predictable barroom brawlers Dallas and Rusty stumble from one ruck to the next pausing only to patch themselves up before the next bout of fisticuffs.

But while Dallas (Caan) is happy with his lot as a blue collar hothead, the deeper thinking Rusty (Hatosy) considers there must be more that life under his friend's shadow.

In an effort to rid himself of Dallas' influence, he begins to see therapist Bob (Goldblum), the boyfriend of his mother Mary (Lynch).

It's a strange situation which gets even more complicated when Dallas hits on a "foolproof" scheme to get rich quick...and wants his buddy in.

However, Rusty is dreaming of moving back to Texas and stepping into the cowboy boots of his late father, a regular on the rodeo circuit.

Caan's feature debut is strong on the dull monotony of backwoods American life but the characters of Rusty and Dallas we've seen too many times before.

As you might expect, it's difficult to empathise with a couple of beer-swilling layabouts who only rouse themselves to hit someone with a pool cue.

Val Lauren is drafted in to provide an OTT comic turn as Christian, the boys' paranoid pal who is teamed up with Dallas for the money-making scheme.

Selma Blair drifts in and out almost unnoticed while Goldblum's pally shrink is merely an extension of the tame roles the actor is increasingly imbuing with a reptilian smugness.

That said, it's an extremely strong first time effort, said to have been written in a month but looking and feeling like a lot more time was lavished on it.

Tim Evans