Shut up little man! An audio misadventure

When Wisconsin transplants Eddie and Mitch moved to San Francisco in 1987, they got more than they bargained for, as seen in this (allegedly) satirical documentary. The new arrivals lived next door to two loud, foul-mouthed malcontents-raging homophobe Raymond Huffman and his openly gay roommate Peter Haskett. The unlikely duo routinely engaged in drunken, sometimes physically abusive arguments that Eddie and Mitch audiotaped, at first for their own safety and, later, for their own amusement. They subsequently copied the tapes and circulated them to friends, birthing a pre-Internet viral sensation that spawned a cottage industry of recordings, plays, and potential movie deals, as well as disputes nearly as contentious as those of the unwitting protagonists. VERDICT Given the repulsive nature of this story's central quartet, it's hard to like anything about this documentary or their experience. But those who are amused by sad circumstances and more swearing than one would hear at a sailors' reunion, punctuated by ample after-the-fact hand wringing, will no doubt enjoy this cinematic tragedy.-Brent Marchant, Chicago (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.