This moody study of American angst scratches the surfaces of several of the malaises of American society, but, like its characters, strikes poses rather than attitudes. Helicopters pound overhead, patrolling the city and especially the 'hood; everywhere is the evidence of bad things coming down. Mack (Kevin Kline), a lawyer, is rescued from a gang of street thugs by Simon (Danny Glover) and feels he must see him again, to thank him and maybe do something for him. Claire (Mary McDonnell), Mack's wife, unaware he's had a one-night affair with his secretary (Mary-Louise Parker), finds an abandoned baby and is filled with a desire to adopt it. Simon's sister lives in fear in the bullet-riddled 'hood, while her son runs with its young gangs. Mack's filmmaker friend (Steve Martin) is shot in the thigh by a mugger after his watch. All of these people, Glover excepted, seem a little unhinged. The outlook is bleak. But director Lawrence Kasdan opts for a happy ending and a theory that sometimes things come out right. Good performances, though, notably from McDonnell, and a few smartly funny lines here and there.

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