You may remember ickle pretty Anne Hathaway as the doe-eyed college ingenue in the harmless children's flick The Princess Diaries.

So it comes as a bit of a shock when she whips her top off and volunteers for a dice-deciding gang bang with a leering band of Hispanic drug dealers.

She plays the affluent Alison, a listless Los Angeles teen whose obsession with gangsta culture leads her to a dodgy motel room and the expectant line of drooling mobsters.

However, things get out of control and her rich kid chum Emily (Phillips) is subjected to a particularly brutal attack, rather taking the shine off the trip down to South Central.

With a script from Traffic's Stephen Gaghan and direction by documentary-maker Barbara Kopple, hopes were high for this as a raw and gritty glimpse of American teen culture.

However, a gallery of unlikeable characters - on both sides of the class and cultural divide - means little empathy is elicited for the main leads.

That said, Hathaway, straining admirably to escape the cosy'n'cute label, is pretty convincing as the well-heeled party girl with a yearn for the wild side.

But the rest of the cast - from her preening ninny of a mate to Latino hardman Hector (Freddy Rodriguez) - are little more than shallow cliches who remain resulutely unexplored.

Bottom of the pile are Alison's male college chums, a risible hip-hop troupe of blinged-up white boys who make Ali G look like Tupac.

While sharp and occasionally gripping, it's very difficult to summon any concern for these super-annuated airheads.

Tim Evans