Gregg Araki's (The Living End, The Doom Generation) latest homage to teenage nihilism stars James Duvall as a doe-eyed, beatific teenager set adrift in a Los Angeles where everyone looks like a model for the Gap, talks in second-generation Valley-ese, and devotes their lives to the stubborn and relentless pursuit of pleasure. Duvall is madly in love with perky girlfriend Rachel True, but is unable to deal with her rampant infidelity. Over the course of one day, True, Duvall and dozens of other characters fuck, take drugs, get immolated by space aliens, are raped by a member of the Baywatch cast, await an imminent Armageddon, and generally behave in telegenic acts of decadence and depravity. Featuring a large and kitschy cast including The Facts of Life's Charlotte Rae, Rose McGowan, Traci Lords, Christina Applegate, Butthole Surfers' Gibby Haynes, David Leisure, Beverly D'Angelo and Shannen Doherty, Nowhere is by far Araki's largest and most ambitious film, and for the first hour or so, it almost lives up to its ambition, providing a visually stunning and oft-hilarious portrayal of an insanely decadent L.A. on the verge of anarchy. After that, however, the film starts to lose its bearings, as Araki drops most of his plots and focuses on Duvall's earnest search for true love, which he comes close to finding in a beautiful but cerebrally impaired young hunk, who of course is transformed into a hideous, insect-like space alien by the film's end. Nevertheless, Nowhere is Araki's most accomplished film yet, and if it never quite comes together, it's still a wildly entertaining film.