They say that by and large comedians are rather sad people. You can well believe it after watching this cuttingly well acted, out-of-the-ordinary but rather dislikeable picture about the stand-up comics of a downtown American nightclub. Naturally, they all long to leap from the part-time to the big time, and this story focuses on two particular cases: the talented but unstable Steven (Tom Hanks) and the housewife (Sally Field) who just likes making people laugh, but whose husband (John Goodman) doesn't understand. No prizes for guessing that a contest at the club for a TV spot will come down to a battle between them. Hanks is at times brilliant, even memorable, and Field tries hard for sympathy in her familiar puppy-dog fashion. But it's difficult to get close to these people, or to root for them at the end. The film does catch some of the roar of the greasepaint and the smell of the crowd, though you can't see any of these melancholy funny-people enjoying it for long. Hanks took some real-life success, though, when his performance won an Oscar nomination.

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