Hacks (1997 film)

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.

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."