Requiem for a broken dream

the long version

Screenwriter Nick Conte left sleepy Sweetwater Springs for the glitz and glamor of Hollywood only to be crushed by the reality of tourist traps, fast-food joints, and disappointed dreamers. Serving coffee by day and toiling away on scripts at night, Nick is busy but comfortable until his neighbor, wannabe actor Dean Winship, stumbles into his apartment and his life. As their friendship and their careers take off, Nick decides he wants more, but Dean puts him off, saying only that his life is too complicated already. When faded actor Stone Carter makes an offer for Nick's screenplay, "complicated" doesn't begin to cover it. Carter's offer comes with some bizarre conditions, but if Nick wants to achieve his dreams, he can't turn it down--a fact he may not live to regret.