Ok, we can agree to disagree, but I will elaborate on a couple of examples. They may be rather random examples from the film, but I wouldn't call them "odd". Theyre the sorts of things Payne throws in to his scripts that add texture or "complexity" to his characters and stories.

Freshman year roommate at San Diego State. What does this one phrase tell me about these characters? Miles, for all his pretension, for all his pedantic postering, is an alumnus of San Diego State. I don't mean to sound snobbish, but it's no Stanford or Berkeley or even UCSD. How did he end up there? Perhaps Miles isn't quite as brilliant as he makes himself out to be, perhaps this is part of his frustration in life. Miles, like Matthew Broderick's Omaha-based character in Election is smart, educated and thoughtful but is perhaps not quite smart enough to have ever escaped the trappings of his own home town. And why has he stayed friends with Jack all these years, when they ostensibly have little in common? I think this alludes to the strange bond of friendship many people have (myself included) with their roommates from college, where life is instantly awash with new experiences and ideas and sex and alcohol and drugs and no parents. I'm glad Payne's added this little detail to let us speculate on the background of these characters. And, as Dargas points out, "It's clear that Miles, who shares Apollo's sense of order and reason, also secretly admires the wildness and chaos embodied by the Dionysus riding shotgun in his car."

We can also speculate on Stephanie's family situation. She has a black daughter and a white mother, yet no details are given about her background. Her mother has the haggard look of an ex-hippie. Stephanie was probably adopted, was her daughter adopted as well, or was she the product of a failed relationship? We're not told, partly because explaining the details of this diverse family isn't really necessary anymore. This is life in modern America, this is California.

Allright, disagree if you want. I'm still a huge fan of Payne, and I look forward to more films from this young (40 something?) director. Perhaps those who consider his films to be "flat" can't get over how his films sometimes refuse to provide an easy emotional directive. More words from Dargas: "The larger problem, I think, is that since the late 1970's we have been under the spell of the blockbuster imperative, with its infallible heroes and comic-book morality, a spell that independent film has done little to break. In this light, the emergence of Mr. Payne into the front ranks of American filmmakers isn't just cause for celebration; it's a reason for hope."