FINDING AMANDA with Matthew Broderick, Brittany Snow, Maura Tierney, Peter Facinelli, Steve Coogan and Peggy Scott. Written and directed by Peter Tolan.

ALTHOUGH it has appeared on the DVD shelves without any fanfare or advance publicity, Finding Amanda is a fun little film which takes really serious issues of addiction and prostitution, and presents them in a humorous manner.

Matthew Broderick, who has come a long way since the days of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Project X, plays Taylor Menden, an over-paid but under-appreciated TV scriptwriter. His show is languishing as the 56th most popular show in its time slot, his lead actor hates him and he’s having troubles at home with his wife (Maura Tierney).

His only escape comes at the race track, where he gambles away hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time on the horses (always losing). But suddenly he gets a chance to redeem himself.

His wife gets a call informing her that her 20-year-old niece Amanda (Brittany Snow) is a drug-addicted prostitute working in Las Vegas. So he takes it on himself to head off to the gambling capital of the US and take her to a rehab centre in Malibu.

Of course there’s no way he can fight his own addictions, with not only his gambling problem raising its ugly head, but also the problems he used to have with alcohol and drugs, problems he thought he had overcome.

Broderick is enjoyable to watch in the role, but it feels obvious that he is hamming it up for the camera, rather than playing a “real” person with genuine issues.

Snow, best remembered for her roles in the TV show American Dreams and the film John Tucker Must Die is equally funny as the prostitute who sees nothing wrong with her lifestyle, or with her abusive boyfriend (Peter Facinelli, who is suitably psychopathic for the role). While the film does raise some serious issues, it’s the humour that is pushed to the foreground.

Which means the film is more suited to audiences looking an escapist comedy rather than those wanting a thought- provoking drama.