Circuit

At once a sexy soap opera, at times lurid and bathetic, and also a gritty cautionary tale made by a filmmaker honest enough to have it both ways.

When Circuit is on its game it's very telling and where it's at its best is detailing just how difficult it is for men so hedonistically self-involved to love one another.

There is a real subject here, and it is handled with intelligence and care.

Shafer (himself a former Playgirl centerfold) never quite manages the incisive social critique his story seems to require.

As slick and attractive as its cast. But the movie gets away from Shafer.

Like ''Showgirls'' and ''Glitter,'' the most entertaining moments here are unintentional.

Even from deep in a K-hole, you'd need about 10 seconds to figure out the remaining plot twists in this jaded muscle-queen morality tale.