This 1986 film--a dead-serious performance by Robin Williams, minus the overlay of schmaltz that informed his acting in the late 1990s--sat on the shelf and had no theatrical release, for obvious reasons: the film has the downbeat spiral of a 1970s film, relentless in its depiction of human frailty at the breaking point. That doesn"t mean it"s a bad film; to the contrary, it"s actually quite a good film. But it is in no way audience-friendly in its vision of a human being who has reached the end of his tether. Directed by Fielder Cook, it"s based on a Saul Bellow novel and strikes exactly the right note, a combination of absurdity and dread. Williams has the desperate energy of a man approaching 40 with nothing to show for his life--and a disapproving, disappointed father he"s constantly trying to impress. Jerry Stiller is great as Williams"s seeming friend, who hooks him into a business deal guaranteed to change his life and his luck. --Marshall Fine