Floundering

1994 | Comedy, Slacker, Twentysomething Character

Synopsis

In this scathing and subversive social comedy, life in post riot Los Angeles is dissected under the sardonic eye of John Boyz, an unemployed thirty nothing flounderer on Venice Beach who is trying to figure out what to do with his life. John can't be bothered with apathy, but no matter how much he wants to help people, he is too immobilized to do anything useful. Haunted by chronic insomnia and impending sense of doom, all he can do is watch, and John is an avid observer. Through his voyeuristic binoculars, he struggles to make sense of all the alienation and disaffection he sees in his neighborhood. In his journal he meticulously chronicles the mundane down to steadfast march of ants across his kitchen counter. John is desperately trying to keep one meaningless day from blending into next. He compulsively watches homemade videos of LA riots looking for a clue. But everywhere around him the city's social fabric is coming apart at the seams, and now it is John Boys's own threadbare life that's about to unravel.

Scores

Overall Score
17.2
Popularity Percentile (Year)
10.4%
Box Office Percentile (Year)
1.1%
Review Aggregate
60.9

Critic Consensus

60.0% Fresh • 10 critic reviews

Critic reception is mixed, with 60% of 10 logged reviews marked Fresh. Across reviews, critics repeatedly emphasize funny, gritty, satirical. Common reservations focus on execution consistency, even when reviewers praise standout elements.

funnygrittysatiricalcharacter-drivenemotionalvisually striking

Cast

CastYearReported SalaryInflation AdjustedNotes
James LeGros1994$0$0(est)
John Cusack1994$0$0(est)
Ethan Hawke1994$0$0(est)
Steve Buscemi1994$0$0(est)
Lisa Zane1994$0$0(est)
Kim Wayans1994$0$0(est)
Billy Bob Thornton1994$0$0(est)

Aggregated Reviews

Rotten Tomatoes critic score67.0
RT critic review count12
Rotten Tomatoes audience score56.0
RT audience rating count1,000
IMDb rating5.8
IMDb votes1,434

Box Office ?

CategoryYearReportedInflation Adjusted
Domestic1994$20,031$42,400
International1994N/AN/A
Worldwide1994$20,031$42,400

Earnings / Profitability

Estimated net revenues and net expenses for films based on reported and estimated numbers. This income statement should be considered most viable for the first 24 months after the inital movie's release (ie after most lucrative pay windows).
CategoryYearReportedInflation Adjusted
Revenues
Theatrical Net Revenue1994$10,016$21,200
Digital Rentals ?1994N/AN/A
Digital Purchases ?1994N/AN/A
Physical Rentals ?1994$142,000$300,576
Physical Purchases ?1994$132,000$279,409
TV & Streaming Revenue1994$70,200$148,595
Total Revenues1994$354,216$749,780
Expenses
Budget ?1994$234,000 (est)$495,316 (est)
Print & Advertising (P&A) ?1994$80,000 (est)$169,339 (est)
Participations1994$7,000$14,817
Residuals ?1994$21,000$44,451
Interest & Overhead1994$46,800$99,063
Total Expenses1994$388,800$822,986
Movie Net Profit or Loss1994$-34,584$-73,206

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