With his first three films -- "Spanking the Monkey," "Flirting With Disaster" and "Three Kings" -- David O. Russell has established himself as one of the freshest talents around. The only problem is, despite the unique premise and some truly inspired casting, the picture remains stuck in an existential rut of its own. Every time it seems like it's going to move forward, its absurdist themes are instead rerun in a continual loop with steadily diminishing comedic returns.

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