Summing up a film like Abby Singer in a concise, Readers Digest way is an exercise in futility. Writer/director Ryan Williams has cobbled together, in fantastic fashion, a visually bewildering, temporally nightmarish gem of an indie film that would, in a perfect world, become the standard by which independent films are judged in the future. The laundry list of awards the film has earned is in itself intimidating, and the history surrounding the making of the film, the lengths to which the filmmakers were willing to go, and the laws they almost certainly broke in the process are indicative of the kind of passion even the most hardened and cynical moviegoer can't help but admire.

For those in the audience not attending film school, we're first treated to the knowledge that an Abby Singer is a film crew's nickname for the next to last shot of the day, although it's often communicated to the actors as the very last shot. But that's only where the metaphor begins; where it ends is left up to the audience. Curtis Clemins is that part of our psyche we don't want to admit exists; he's fragile, he's needy, and he's good at what he does, he just has no idea where life would take him if even one of his carefully-placed elementals was to take a tumble. And tumble it does -- his girlfriend Mabeline (maybe she's born with it) breaks it off for good in the middle of the Independent Spirit Awards, and Curtis goes to pieces.

His college buddy Kevin (Williams) isn't much better off. He's a soon-to-be-divorced, alcoholic acting instructor who claims to have given up on his dreams while simultaneously begging his students not to give up on theirs. He seems to be the very last person capable of pulling Curtis out from under the bell jar, but you'll soon discover that characters of this breadth and depth are not to be underestimated, and Williams doesn't let you forget that you are, for these 79 minutes, living in his world.

Clint Palmer delivers in grand fashion in Abby Singer. His Curtis Clemins is at once trustworthy and frighteningly unreliable, constantly keeping the audience guessing as to where his head is. Robin Ballard is extremely effective as Curtis's ferociously harrowing boss Maxine (we've all worked for her), and Pat Donahue stands out as Mr. Mooker, who refuses to give up a dream despite the odds.

The film also features cameo appearances by such favorites as Jake Gyllenhaal, Roger Ebert, Brad Pitt, Don Cheadle, Stockard Channing, Robin Tunney, Patricia Arquette, and more.

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