about twenty-somethings in Prague, but now I am not so sure. The thing is there didn't seem to be any point to it and the six characters didn't seem to do anything that led anywhere.

Then it dawned on me. Perhaps that was the whole point. That's what being a twenty-something is like -- leading a life that has no focus. Mind you I thought that was being a teenager.

That said, Loners was the best attended Czech film last year and it enjoyed a six-month run in one of Prague's largest cinemas -- that would be all those twenty-somethings with nothing to do.

The blurb calls it a "Black comedy about 90s Prague'' and it does have some funny moments but not enough to deserve that title -- but again that could be my non-twenty-something, non-Czech outlook on life.

So, there are six main characters and the film spends the first 20 or so minutes introducing you to them and their connection to the good-looking Hana, who is the thread linking them all.

Hana is one of those striking European women who reminds you of your first school trip abroad, when as a 13-year-old you first encountered the more sophisticated and grown up (hey, they used to drink Stella Artois) Euro-girl.

She is habitually unlucky in love and drifts apart from her radio DJ boyfriend, Petr, (who tries to win her back by playing tapes of her -- kinda like Play Misty for Me in reverse -- over the airwaves) into the arms of the scatter-brained Jacob, scattered that is by the amount of weed filtering through his head.

Unfortunately, that will never be as Jacob's pals remind him that he already has a girlfriend.

Short term memory loss being one of the side-effects of smoking too much marijuana means Jacob thought she had left for good whilst she was only visiting her mother in Germany -- a great moment and one of many he provides.

All the while, Hana is being stalked by a neurosurgeon called Ondrej, who relentlessly pursues her to the point of becoming a gas repairman and checking over her mother's electric stove, just so he could go in her house.

His moment of glory comes when he sets Hana and Jacob on fire, who don't so much burn as gently flicker like candles.

Robert is -- to use a football analogy -- a sort of midfield playmaker, supposedly manipulating characters to his will.

He enjoys a brief fling with Vesna, a cute barmaid who ably demonstrates the Tequila body shot. Sounds intriguing huh? That's what I thought until Vesna poured a shot into Robert's girlfriend's bellybutton, drank it and sucked a lemon from her mouth -- I guess the fluff was instead of the salt.

As I said before, it doesn't really head anywhere, just goes around, well, like twenty-somethings burning around town on a Saturday night in their parent's car.

That is fine but like a badly-rolled joint, it all falls apart without something to hold it together -- and the comedy paper just ain't sticky enough.

One final confession, like a true thirty-something I dozed off during the middle of the film.

The film Loners will be shown tonight at the Liberty Theatre at 8.30 p.m.

By Tim Greenfield A scene from the film loners.