After winning the National Film Institute's Award for Best student Film, filmmaker Nick Chapman (Kevin Bacon) jumps headlong into the Hollywood fast-lane. There, he receives a warm welcome from studio executives who have heard he's the hottest thing in town. But before long, predatory producers, aggravating agents, and avant-garde artists are turning his world upside down by trying to hitch a ride on his supposedly rising star--which helps him to realize the horrible truth about the backward system that created his meteoric rise. Christopher Guest's (THIS IS SPINAL TAP) directorial debut skewers the Hollywood system, with ample help from a comedically gifted cast including Martin Short, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and John Cleese.