Julia Roberts' fans beware: Steven Soderbergh's "Full Frontal" features the perfect-lipped brunette, but it's no "Erin Brockovich."

This twisted little love tale examines the lives of several dysfunctional people living in L.A., most of whom are loosely connected and end up at the same party.

Linda (Mary McCormack) wants to find true love yet attempts to find romance by lying on the Internet. Carl (David Hyde Pierce) is capable of love, but his wife, Lee (Catherine Keener), is having an affair with Calvin (Blair Underwood). Calvin is an actor who plays an actor who discovers he's in love with Catherine (Julia Roberts).

Got that?

If not, it doesn't really matter, because this film is more about the exploration of characters than it is about an action-packed plot. In fact, there's very little plot, but don't let that stop you from enjoying this flick. It's heady, but never slow moving, and more like Soderbergh's "Day and Night" than some of his more recent films, like the "Oceans 11" remake.

Shot in just 18 days with a miniscule budget, the film looks and feels like a documentary, with scenes ranging from grainy and washed out to cartoon sharp.

Apparantly, Soderbergh had a laundry list of production "rules:" No soundtrack, no trailers ("If you need to be alone a lot, you're pretty much screwed," he said), and all of the scenes were shot in glamorless locations.

Plus, actors had to drive themselves to the shoots and were responsible for their own wardrobe, hair and make up. They were also encouraged to improvise in a "Best of Show" sort of way, and warned that their characters would be interviewed, and that interview footage might end up in the film. (It did.)

The acting is superb, and the dialogue -- although a few lines are muffled and lost -- is hilarious.

Keener once again brilliantly portrays an unhappy neurotic (she played similar characters in "Being John Malkovich," "Walking and Talking," "Lovely and Amazing" and an episode of Seinfeld). This time, she's a stressed-out executive who fires and humiliates her employees as a way to deal with her marital aggressions and guilt due to her affair with Underwood's character.

Equally as spectacular is Hyde Pierce ("Frasier") who masterfully portrays an unappreciated husband to Keener and frustrated writer for Los Angeles Magazine.

Like Tom Cruise's character in "Magnolia," many of the characters seem to be poking fun at themselves. Pitt, who plays himself, appears on the cover of L.A. Magazine multiple times, once with the headline "Brad Pitt wants to boil your bunny."

Roberts, who plays a fledgling actress, takes one bite of a tuna sandwich, tosses it back into the box, and demands that her assistant not only fetch her a different sandwich, but some wet naps as well because she simply cannot have "tuna fingers."

Although the title of the film was changed numerous times, "Full Frontal" is fitting. The film exposes some of the ugly aspects of the L.A. movie industry and the characters are transparent, allowing the audience to witness their vulnerabilities and neuroses, much like Anne Bening's character in "American Beauty."

And yes, we see David Duchovny's "full frontal."

"Full Frontal" is said to be the sequel to "sex, lies and videotape" but it's more of a distant cousin. A notable similarity is that in "sex...," Soderbergh's character played by James Spader is unable to create a human love-bond and instead watches videotapes of women talking about sex to derive pleasure, and in this film, two lonely characters (Enrico Colantoni from "Just Shoot Me" and McCormack) meet on the Internet. Although they lie to each other about their names, ages and professions, claim to have a real connection.

Those who appreciated Soderbergh's earlier work or have a penchant for The Sundance Channel will love this film. Those who own a copy of "My Best Friend's Wedding" and watch it regularly should probably steer clear.

"Full Frontal" opened Fri., Aug. 2 at Landmark's Downer Theatre.