Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll was filmed before live audiences at the Wilbur Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts, in December 1990. On a spare stage, the energetic and innovative monologist Eric Bogosian (Talk Radio) presents his impressions of our schizoid culture from high rollers to homeless people. Director John McNaughton (Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer) uses a variety of cinematic techniques to accentuate the different pace and mood of Bogosian's ten character portraits.

Bogosian's range is impressive. He conveys a shrewd subway panhandler; a fatuous British rock star trying to convince kids to "just say no" to drugs; a derelict who is obsessed with pollution; an executive manipulating clients, wife, colleagues, lover, and friends on a chordless plane; a well-endowed stud proud of his sexual conquests; a working-class fellow describing a stag party; a middle-aged suburbanite gloating over his Olympic-sized pool; and a pothead convinced that computers are taking over the world.

The actor proves himself to be a master of mimicry who understands some of the peculiar warps of a generation raised on rock & roll. In addition, the whole film can be assessed as a scary overview of the dark side of the male psyche where paranoia, misogyny, and compulsiveness reign.