MOVIE REVIEW

Daniel Kay's "Way Off Broadway" is an endearing comedy about five college friends trying to make it in the arts in New York.

By Kevin Thomas, Times Staff Writer

Daniel Kay's "Way Off Broadway" is an endearing comedy about five college friends trying to make it in the arts in New York while coping with insecurity, uncertainty, rejection, disappointment and muddled emotions. At the group's magnetic center is a ravishingly lovely aspiring actress (Morena Baccarin). She is surrounded by a grad student in film (Michael Parducci), with whom she is having a slowly fading romance; an aspiring playwright (Brad Beyer); a blocked guitarist (Forbes March); and a virginal grad student in English literature (Jordan Gelber) who is worried about his weight. They are an appealing, vulnerable group, and the film is a showcase for its gifted young actors; not surprisingly, Baccarin has a starring role in Universal's upcoming sci-fi film "Serenity." Well paced and affectionately observant, "Way Off Broadway" is a good example of a low-low-budget first film in which the filmmaker got everything just right — and avoided biting off more than he could chew.

"Way Off Broadway," Fairfax Cinemas, 7907 Beverly Blvd. (at Fairfax Avenue), (323) 655-4010. (1:28) Unrated. Some language, adult themes.

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