Off Jackson Avenue

Though picture is downbeat and defiantly low-budget, its laid-back absurdist tone and no-nonsense pacing make for an audio-visual delight.

Despite this tri-part farcical thriller's plot construction, some hackneyed dialogue and actorial mugging--the finest exception being Aya Cash's airily acerbic Slavic hooker--you can't help but eagerly anticipate the finale, when Montias brings his intersecting storylines together. Apparently, amusingly improbable coincidences can satisfy.

The lives of Olivia, Tomo, Milot and Joey converge in a climactic chase sequence as frantic as a Keystone Cops movie. By this time, grim realism has curdled into bleakly absurdist farce.

While Montias' actors do their best, even good intentions have limits. Still, it never feels false. And remember, even Martin Scorsese (born in Queens) had to start somewhere.

There are several impressive scenes, but taken as a whole, the film is weighed down by significant creative and technical missteps.

Clichéd stories, clichéd characters. All that's missing is Ed Burns.