Considering the legal folderol behind the scenes of this feature, a sequel to 1986's widely acclaimed Rears (dir. Henri Pachard), one can only measure the euphoria of panning it in the same terms as kicking a three-legged dog. The police-impounded footage (those portions with Tracy Adams and Joey Silvera), later reinstated, is reason to explain the muddle of character switches in the flashback sequences. But that's not a sufficient copout (forgive the gallows humor) for lethargy, color destabilizations and "creative" sexplay straight out of Bill Blackman/Hiramus Merkin.

Adams reprises her role as the smart-cookie waitress Michelle who's planning a surprise 40th birthday party for her bar boss, Ned (Randy West) only to be pinched by the fuzz for alleged soliciting. Caused in part by trying to combine and interedit two completely different casts, it's hard to go with any kind of flow here--like watching a band of disoriented apaches trying to home in on a fast forwarding wagon train. Then you can see the felony compounded when a sex scene between Dana Lynn and Nick Frenair is milked and crosscut far past its life expectancy. But those are the chances you take when you try to gamble with patchwork as the director does here. Sometimes it's better to start from scratch.