Writer-director Noah Baumbach's 1995 debut, Kicking And Screaming, was one of the most underrated comedies of the '90s, a witty, affectionate look at post-collegiate ennui that borrows heavily from Whit Stillman and Woody Allen but possesses a droll charm of its own. Baumbach followed it with 1998's wildly uneven Mr. Jealousy and Highball, a micro-budgeted 1997 comedy only now seeing release on home video with Baumbach's name replaced by a pseudonym. A relentlessly stagy comedy of manners, Highball takes place over the course of three increasingly eventful nights, as a motley group of friends, enemies, and acquaintances—including Rae Dawn Chong and Ally Sheedy as themselves—stumble their way through a series of contentious social gatherings. Although populated by such stellar Baumbach regulars as Carlos Jacott, Chris Eigeman, and Eric Stoltz (as well as Baumbach himself, in a droll performance), Highball recalls a ramshackle work in progress, a quality exacerbated by uneven performances from a cast that includes a handful of justifiably unknown actors. Filmed over the course of six days, it has the rough-hewn feel of a student film, right down to its washed-out look, spare production values, and leaden camera movements. But its off-the-cuff sensibility is a blessing as well as a curse, and at its best it possesses a loose, spontaneous quality that's invigorating. Though occasionally amateurish, Highball is shot through with Baumbach's dry, acidic wit and littered with amusing running gags, the funniest of which involves his character's ill-fated sponsorship of an impoverished Third World child. Running only 80 minutes, Highball is at most an amusing trifle, but in the dire world of direct-to-video movies, that's enough to dwarf the competition.