'Finding Amanda': Better Hedge Your Bets

Maybe you've seen "Finding Amanda," a slight, modestly funny comedy starring Matthew Broderick that Magnolia Pictures recently previewed on its pay-per-view satellite channel. If so, you know there's no overwhelming reason to rush to theaters to see it; rather, it plays like the kind of small-canvas, intermittently amusing piece of ephemera that's best appreciated while randomly punching the clicker on an aimless Friday night.

Does anyone play hapless better than Broderick? In a role reminiscent of his hilarious star turn in "Election," here he portrays a hack TV writer named Taylor Mendon, a compulsive gambler and recovering alcoholic who goes to Las Vegas to rescue his niece, Amanda (Brittany Snow), the most cheerful hooker on the Strip -- all to prove to his skeptical wife (Maura Tierney) that he's 100 percent reformed.

Thrown into America's deepest pit of iniquity, Taylor inevitably succumbs, not just to his favorite vices of ponies and Jameson, but to the outlandishly optimistic charms of the title character. Broderick, a consummate pro and master of subtle timing, deserves a better foil than a way-too-cute Snow, who is punching above her comic and thespian weight here. Still, "Finding Amanda" has its wispy charms, including a funny scene when the ecstasy Taylor pops begins to kick in, and later when he encounters a pimp with showbiz aspirations.

-- Ann Hornaday

Finding Amanda R, 97 minutes Contains strong sexual material, including graphic dialogue; pervasive profanity; drug content; and brief nudity. At Landmark's E Street Cinema. Finding Amanda R, 97 minutes Contains strong sexual material, including graphic dialogue; pervasive profanity; drug content; and brief nudity. At Landmark's E Street Cinema.