"So this is the Bachelor's life."
--Phil, just before taking part in a coked-up threesome at 8:30 in the morning with his buddy Eddie and a teenage runaway given to them as a "care package" by their friend Artie.

Yup, the bachelor's life...if the bachelor lives in Brentwood, maybe.

The best thing about Hurly Burly is the cast; each character a case-study in excess and self-indulgence. Eddie, Mickey, Phil and Artie, played by Ethan Hawke, Josh Hamilton, Bobby Canivale and Wallace Shawn (remember him, the Sicilian bandit in Princess Bride), are all friends connected through the film industry. Their conversations revolve around themselves and the women that should worship them. ("She hates you, me, AND Mickey...that's it, she hates men!") With the women in the cast being treated more like accessories than people

All the actors do a great job at bringing their charcter's neuroses to life. My personal favorite is Phil. If you mix Big Pussy from the Sopranos with Lenny from Of Mice and Men, you get Phil. He spends most of his time asking for sympathy from his buddies over his relationship woes, and they oblige up to and beyond the moment they find out he beat the crap out of her the night before. Canivale does such a great job crossing the line from self-pity into outright rage, I swear there were times I thought one of the veins in his neck was gonna pop.

Ethan Hawke and Josh Hamilton are also really good as casting agents who share an apartment, as well as other things. When you walk in the theatre, Hawke's Eddie is actually passed out on a couch, butt crack in view. At that point, you know he's gonna be a lot of fun, and Hawke does not disappoint. And aside from the fact that I thought Josh hamilton was doing a Kevin Spacey impression, he's the source for some of the best deadpan lines of the show.

Obviously, with a running time over three hours, and characters given to long speeches that are short on substance, there were times when my mind would drift into wondering things like "what are they packing into that bowl when they smoke it?" But overall, a play definitely worth seeing.