p 　　Fraught with over obvious symbolism, Hartley 三九 s early feature is nonetheless a joy to watch Hal here shows us his uncanny ability to cast his characters perfectly came early in his career br 　　Adrienne Shelley is a near perfect foil to herself, equal parts annoying teen burgeoning in her sexuality though using sex for several years obsessed with doom and inspired by idealism gone wrong she is deceptively – and simultaneously – complex and simple Her Audrey inspires so many levels of symbolism it is almost embarrassingly rich e g , her modeling career beginning with photos of her foot – culminating her doing nude but unseen work Manhattan move Europe trip her stealing, then sleeping with the mechanics wrench, etc br 　　As Josh, Robert Burke gives an absolutely masterful performance A reformed prisoner penitent he returns to his home town to face down past demons, accept his lot and begin a new life Dressed in black, and repeatedly mistaken for a priest, he corrects everyone quot I 三九 m a mechanic quot , yet the symbolism is rich: he abstains from alcohol, he practices celibacy is, in fact a virgin , and seemingly has taken on vows of poverty, and humility as well The humility seems hardest to swallow seeming, at times, almost false, a pretense Yet, as we learn more of Josh we see genuineness in his modesty, that his humility is indeed earnest and believable What seems ironic is the character is fairly forthright in his simplicity, yet so richly drawn it becomes the viewer who wants to make him out as more than what he actually is A fascinatingly written character, perfectly played br 　　The scene between Josh and Jane a wonderful, young Edie Falco quot You need a woman not a girl quot is hilarious real But Hartley can 三九 t leave it as such and his trick, having the actors repeat the dialogue over-and-over becomes frustratingly quot arty quot and annoying until again it becomes hilarious What a terrific sense of bizarre reality this lends the film like kids in a perpetual quot am not quot quot are too quot argument br 　　Hartley 三九 s weaves all of a small neighborhood 三九 s idiosyncrasies into a tapestry of seeming stereotypes but which delves far beneath the surface, the catalyst being that everyone believes they know what the quot unbelievable truth quot of the title is, yet no two people can agree including our hero on what exactly that truth is A wonderful little movie with some big ideas p