Cliff Spab (Stephen Dorff) and his next door neighbor best friend since childhood Joe Dice are slacker fast food workers. The two of them get taken hostage at the local convenient store along with Wendy Pfister (Reese Witherspoon) and others. The terrorists call themselves SPLIT Image and demand to have their hostage video broadcast on live TV. After killing hostages, the authorities relent and the three remaining hostages become worldwide reality stars during their 36 days imprisonment. Cliff would often say S.F.W. in the face of the constant threats. Joe starts a shootout where he's killed. Cliff and Wendy are the two survivors and become separate media stars.
Cliff is a slacker without a cause. It doesn't make him an appealing lead. His story is meandering and his character is aimless. It would have been great to have Cliff and Wendy together but it takes a long time for the characters to reunite. This movie tries to be a satire on the modern media but it's broad without anything funny. It's mimicry rather than insightful. This could have been interesting with more Witherspoon but it eventually wears out its welcome.
Cliff is a slacker without a cause. It doesn't make him an appealing lead. His story is meandering and his character is aimless. It would have been great to have Cliff and Wendy together but it takes a long time for the characters to reunite. This movie tries to be a satire on the modern media but it's broad without anything funny. It's mimicry rather than insightful. This could have been interesting with more Witherspoon but it eventually wears out its welcome.