I was a twentysomething fool, a Generation X-er from the early 90's. X meant the unknown and addressed slackerdom, if that is the word for it. I myself felt aimless and sought something real but had no idea where to look for it. There were various Generation X films during the early 90's from "Bodies, Rest and Motion" to the far-too-polished though diverting "Reality Bites" to the diverting and somehow more mature "Singles" to Kevin Smith's slackers and retail clerks-for-life in the comical "Clerks." Yet it is really Peter McCarthy's "Floundering" that really hit the nail on the head. The search for one's self and some measure of spirituality that is forsaken for just getting it together is the heart and soul of "Floundering" and no better actor captured the 90's X-ers better than James Le Gros. Slacker, possibly, but it clearly draws more insight than expected into such an X-er.
Le Gros is John Boyz, a single, 30-ish guy living on unemployment and alone in his Venice apartment. The 1992 L.A. riots are in the background, mostly playing on his TV as he fantasizes about the crooked police chief who talks to him through the TV. John fantasizes and daydreams a lot, especially about the woman collecting soda cans for recycling (he imagines that she could run a recycling business and his ideas are fairly sound and practical though forming a business costs money). He has a cheating girlfriend (Lisa Zane, never better) who is nonplussed by John's disapproval especially after catching her having sex with her boss ("We will have dinner...in 3 hours!") John has a paranoid brother (Ethan Hawke, who is spectacularly good) who is in and out of rehab. However, soon John's life gets out of control when the IRS seizes his bank account for unpaid taxes and his unemployment starts to run dry.
John spends more time fantasizing and he has trouble sleeping, waking up every day at 3 am with doom on his mind. He imagines getting shot in the head. He starts to casually ingest cocaine with an ex-girlfriend (Olivia Barash, who contributes a song to the soundtrack) and smoke crack with neighbors who believe a revolution is imminent. John can shoot the shit with a philosophical buddy (John Cusack) while smoking pot and discussing the steps to actualize spirituality rather than just thinking about it.
"Floundering" literally flounders from daily episodes of John's life, absorbing the drenching anomie, and again searching for something within himself - to understand himself and move forward. The statewide news is depressing, the people in his life offer support through their own understanding of L.A. and crime and the draining of life itself in this big city, but what can a guy do living his life day to day with no real direction? Le Gros gets there eventually and I felt a kinship with this nice, nonviolent guy - the 90's archetype of a sensitive, selfless man. "Floundering" has it all and embodies the anomie of society without relishing it or explaining it - it just is. John Boyz knows that too well.
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