This oddball tale of a small-town gangster's troubled girlfriend hovers uncertainly on the edge of an absurdist universe.

Looks and sounds better than the average indie film debut.

First-time writer-director Richard Ledes's mystical tone and pervasive swipes from David Lynch tend to suffocate his satire, and stunt casting doesn't help.

Ledes shows promise, but truly, this would have been better left to Todd Haynes.

Director-writer Richard Ledes shows better command of 1950s period atmosphere than he does of either his subject or his cast.

The anesthetized, deadpan performances -- except for Meat Loaf as Anna's gangster boyfriend, who's so over-the-top it appears he stumbled in from another movie -- and dull storytelling result in an unsuccessful mix of screwball comedy, melodrama and noir.

With its heavy symbolism and awkward, lurching pace, A Hole in One leaves viewers with little more than the vague conviction - which I think I already had going in - that falling in love is better than an ice pick to the brain.