The French call it amour fou. Van Sant called it "Death in Venice on Skid Row." Based on an autobiographical story by maverick writer Walt Curtis, set in the seamy backstreets of Portland, Oregon, the film is about Walt, Johnny, and Pepper. Walt is a liquor-store clerk and aspiring writer, Johnny and Pepper are illegal Mexican immigrants. Walt pines for Johnny, who keeps him at arm's length, while Pepper eventually proves not so picky. Walt is a kind of low-rent sugar daddy for the boys, who have come for the American dream. Walt gets more trouble than he bargained for, just one consequence of trying to make pets of creatures that bite.