FINDING AMANDA

Year: 2008
USA: Magnolia Pictures
Cast: Matthew Broderick, Brittany Snow, Maura Tierney, Peter Facinelli, Steve Coogan, Ed Begley, Jr, Bill Fagerbakke, Patrick Fischler, Jennifer Hall, Jenni Blong, J P Manoux, Allie McCulloch, Luke Van Pelt, Allan Wasserman, Jennifer Rau
Director: Peter Tolan
Country: USA
USA: 90 mins
USA Rated: R for strong sexual content including graphic dialogue, pervasive language, drug content and brief nudity
USA Release Date: 27 June 2008 (Limited Release)
US Distributor

Synopsis

From director Peter Tolan, creator of the hit television series RESCUE ME, comes FINDING AMANDA, a hilarious and heartbreaking autobiographical comedy about the compulsions we can't shake, and the unlikely lengths we'll go to while trying.

Taylor Mendon (Matthew Broderick) is a television writer and producer of a little-respected half-hour sitcom that has low audience figures. His career has suffered as he is caught up in a downward spiral through his drinking, recreational drug use and compulsive gambling. After kicking the alcohol and drugs, he only has one more hurdle...the horses.

Then his beautiful 20 year-old niece Amanda (Brittany Snow) succumbs to her own habits. Working as a 'dancer,' in Las Vegas, her family has just discovered she's actually a prostitute, and they suspect hooking for drug money.

Returning from an emergency family meeting, Taylor's wife Lorraine (Maura Tierney) finds recent racing stubs in Taylor's glove compartment. This is the final straw and after years of standing by him, she leaves.

Taylor comes up with a plan: he'll win back his wife by doing the right thing. He'll go to Las Vegas, find Amanda, and deliver her to a rehabilitation center in Malibu. While he's at it, he might even catch up with some old friends (like slimy casino host Steve Coogan). But he vows to stay strictly to the business at hand and won't gamble a single cent, but things don't turn out quite as he'd planned.