Hi-Life

Roger Hedden wrote and directed this indie romantic comedy about a group of New Yorkers on the Upper West Side as Christmas nears. Unemployed actor Jimmy (Eric Stoltz), who owes $900 to local bookie Fatty (Charles Durning), tells his girlfriend Susan (Moira Kelly) that the money is for an abortion for sis Maggie (Daryl Hannah) — who jilted bartender Ray (Campbell Scott). Ray and one of his regular customers April (Katrin Cartlidge) visit bars trying to raise the money, and eventually a half dozen others are drawn into the treasure hunt. Shown at the 1998 Mill Valley Film Festival and the 1998 Chicago Film Festival., Eric Stoltz stars in this comedy of errors as a man whose gambling debts lead to an ever-widening circle of lies. He enlists his girlfriend to help raise the money, and his fabricated sob story is so compelling that she creates her own lie to get money from her brother (Campbell Scott), owner of the Hi-Life bar, who in turn seeks help from various friends and an ex-lover. Moira Kelly, Daryl Hannah, Katrin Cartlidge.