Having made his debut with a film (Star Maps) about a father who sells his own son into prostitution, it's readily apparent that director Miguel Arteta does not view life through the rose-tinted spectacles worn by even the most sincere Tinseltown realists, write David Parkinson.

However, unlike Star Maps, his second outing is a relatively compassionate picture, despite the fact that it manages to combine a troubling undercurrent of menace and a genuine sympathy for those on the margins of society.

Way back when, Buck (Mike White) and Chuck (Chris Weitz) were best buddies, close enough to have shared sexual experiments together. But Chuck has left those days behind and gone on to become a high-flying record executive, with a stunning fiance Carlyn (Beth Colt). Buck, on the other hand, whose social and psychological development has been minimal, is locked into his pre-teen obsession. So, following the death of his mother, he heads out to LA to rekindle the flames.

Hollywood has a way of romanticising both Goonie friendships and mental illness. But, whereas a commerical journeyman might have gone for sitcom laughs and a warm resolution, Arteta eschews nostalgia and sentiment to produce a movie that's full of gauche emotions and uncomfortable comedy.

Chuck may be a smug yuppie, but he can hardly be blamed for wanting to keep his sexual skeletons firmly in their closet. Moreover, he has every reason to believe that Buck is much more than a harmless pest. As Chuck quickly deduces from watching Hank and Frank, the play Buck has written for a local community theatre, he sees Carlyn as an obstacle to his happiness and will stop at nothing to eliminate her.

Much of the picture's best business grows up around the play. Its blend of fairy-tale innocence, biting insight and childish petulance makes it compelling in its awfulness. In addition, Lupe Ontiveros and Paul Weitz contribute telling cameos, respectively as the producer who declares Buck's script to be "a homoerotic, misogynistic love story" and the hunky Chuck-a-like, who rapidly becomes the object of Buck's confused affections.

However, it seems exceedingly unlikely that even the sharpest pricking of Chuck's conscience would send him tumbling back into Buck's bed. But, this isn't the only flaw in the film's make-up. Chuck and Carlyn are identikit bourgeois bastards and remain unworthy of pity even at the height of Buck's hate campaign. Similarly, White's dazzling performance camouflages the latent danger of a character, who guiltlessly indulges in stalking, voyeurism, slander and more besides in the immature pursuit of his desires.

The recent dirth of worthwhile films makes it tempting to turn a blind eye to Chuck & Buck's imperfections. But, while Arteta is a clearly talent to be reckoned with, he's not quite the finished article.