Echo Park (1985)

Susan Dey, Tom Hulce, Michael Bowen, Christopher Walker, Shirley Jo Finney ... see more  , Timothy Carey , Heinrich Schweiger , Cassandra Peterson , John Paragon , Paul Anselmo , Jesse Aragon , Dorothy Dells , Yana Nirvana , Robert Shafer , Martin Suppan , Biff Yeager , Cheech Marin , Dee Cooper , Anne Marie Bates , Robert Cabral , Dana Collins , Peter Drain , Douglas M. Ford , Stephen Gaines , Penny Harris , James Helppi , Top Jimmy , Doug Knott , Renee LeBallister , Fred Leaf , Michael Marloe , Jason Mayall , Bob Moss , Skip O'Brien , John Pochna , De Schneider , George W. Scott , Jim Smith , Mary Thompson , Patricia Tippo , Jacki Easton Toelle , Max Trumpower , Merrill Ward

This bittersweet comedy looks at the denizens of Echo Park, a decaying section of Los Angeles popular with struggling actors and musicians, largely because of its (relatively) low rents. May Greer (Su... read more san Dey) is a single mother and aspiring actress who makes ends meet by tending bar (the most lucrative job she's been offered in show biz is as a combination stripper and singing telegram girl). Her neighbor August (Michael Bowen) is a body-builder from Austria who dreams of becoming a movie star like Arnold Schwarzenegger, though these days he's supporting himself by doing low-budget TV commercials for deodorant. May and August have an on-again, off-again relationship, which has more to do with sex and loneliness than love. Hoping to stretch her budget a bit, May rents out a room to Jonathan (Tom Hulce), a wannabe singer/songwriter who makes his money delivering pizzas. May takes a liking to Jonathan, and her son Henry (Christopher Walker) sees Jonathan as the benevolent father figure that's been missing from his life. The supporting cast includes cult figure Timothy Carey and Cassandra Peterson, best known as princess of the dark Elvira. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi