In the opening scene of "Locating Silver Lake," the protagonist Daniel Willingham is rejected by his girlfriend Samantha Dolnes during the college graduation ceremony. By the end of the film, it becomes apparent to the audience that Sam made a smart move by dumping Dan.

While the film has some good footage of the great sites of L.A., there was a major problem with the lack of credibility of the characters. Daniel wins a lucky bet at the roulette table, but it was not clear how that stash of cash would make him independently wealthy. It was also unclear how no one in the film apparently had to work for a living.

The strangest group of characters were the individuals who fell under the spell of a cult-like guru named Seth, who had resonances of Charles Manson. There is the nearly silent character named Lilith. There is Daniel's old high school classmate Ella and her girlfriend Bonnie. Daniel falls in love with Ella's sister Talya, who goes by the user name of Mamihlapinatapai. Talya too has been brainwashed by Seth.

Daniel also has a one-night stand with his neighbor Luisa, a woman separated from her husband and raising two young children. After their tryst, Luisa has the realization that she no longer needs men in her lives, breaks off the relationship with Daniel, and moves out the area.

The most interesting group of characters was a number of men who have suffered traumatic losses and have weekly bonfires and drinking sessions. Daniel bonds with the men, opening up especially to his landlord Jose about his own troubled past. Daniel's father was emotionally wounded when his wife took a lover. The father left home, leaving the mother depressed. After she died in an auto wreck that was due to her driving, Daniel was left an orphan and a negative perception of love.

The film tries to turn Daniel into a 21st-century Jack Kerouac with his bible Kerouac's book "Maggie Cassidy." It was never clear exactly what was the purpose of the cult of "found ones" led by Seth, whose ramblings about "chaos" were as boring as they were self-indulgent. Were they a symbol of the hedonism associated with L.A.?

Daniel appears to have a kind of epiphany in his rejection of Seth and the cult, finding meaning in writing about the true story of Herman Silver, for whom the L.A. reservoir is named. But it is not clear if he has any new direction in life other than getting as far away as humanly possible from Silver Lake.

And that problem is the plot line!

So many holes throughout this otherwise compelling story. Josh Peck as 'Daniel" gives a solid performance as a young man who seems to be torn by rejection and acceptance by others. We are left in the cold as to what he is in search of.

That odd cult led by 'Seth' seems more comical than serious. Why others would seek his approval remains a mystery. Then there's 'Jose' who seems a bit threatening in appearance and with his friends but he has a parental view over Daniel.

This film left me confused.

I have had as interesting a life as the writer depicted in this film. The Hollywood pretension is absent here, the bad dialogue, the wooden acting, the A to Z story line--all missing from this achievement that takes characters from the 2010s and uses them as metaphors for all generations. From 1988 through 1997, the year I effectively divorced myself from American society, I knew people just like the ones depicted here. Psychic vampires, lost young women, lesbian couples, bi-sexuals, Cholos, you name it. The story here is seamless and offers up surprise after surprise, most of them being out-and-out breaks in stereotype. Oh, and I lived in Hollywood--it's where I grew up, so I'm not one of the people of the world who hate that city without ever going there. In fact, I don't hate it at all. If there ever were a melting pot for the entire world which at the same time was filled with lost, lonely children needing love more than their next meal, then L.A. wins the prize--and this film reveals the city in a way that I never thought possible through one director's eye.