`STAR MAPS' STRAYS OFF COURSE.

Byline: Amy Dawes Daily News Film Critic

In the decidedly unglamorous Hollywood of ``Star Maps,'' those Latino boys who sell maps to the stars' homes along the Sunset Strip are actually prostitutes, with whom clients can stop and barter for services other than celebrity real-estate tours.

But that turns out to be merely a fabrication on the part of the movie's writer and director, Miguel Arteta, who came up with the idea as a metaphor for the disillusioning nature of of the famously cruel business of Hollywood.

Arteta, a 1993 graduate of the American Film Institute who makes his feature debut with ``Star Maps,'' imagined a story in which the show-business aspirations of a naive young immigrant from Mexico collide with the harsh realities of the legendary boulevard of broken dreams.

In the movie, the teen-age Carlos (Douglas Spain) arrives by bus to Los Angeles dreaming of becoming an actor, but is soon sucked into a Sunset Strip prostitution ring run by his own father, no less.

Carlos spends his days involved in graphically depicted sex with clients, both men and women, whom he believes are going to help him get into show business.

Soon one of his regulars, the beautiful, neglected actress wife (Kandeyce Jorden) of a soap opera producer, actually arranges for Carlos to get a part as an extra on the show, and his hopes soar.

But to avoid blowing the chance, he must provide plenty of after-hours service to Jennifer, while at the same time avoiding the wrath of his father, Pepe (Efrain Figueroa), who despises Carlos' acting ambitions and wants to squash them.

Arteta clearly wants to satirize the way Hollywood stereotypes Latinos - the part he writes for Carlos on the soap opera, as a gardener with the hots for his housewife client - is ludicrously cliched - but he overdoes the satire, along with nearly everything else in the movie, which is full of random ideas and impulses that never coalesce into a clear tone or point of view.

This is the kind of low-budget, independent film that tries to be sensitive to sexual exploitation while at the same time indulging in it. The dialogue, too, is full of graceless profanity, and the film is ultimately as raunchy and clueless as the culture it tries to depict.

The story itself suffers from a clumsy setup, in which Carlos, who has been down this road before, is so willing a participant in his dismal circumstances that it's difficult to relate to him. Spain is a quiet, interior actor who achieves an effective intensity at times; and Lysa Flores, an East L.A.-based recording artist, makes a warm, coherent contribution as Carlos' sister. Figueroa is effective as his cocky, despicable father. But for the most part, the actors are stranded by the uneven tone of the writing and direction, which veers between dark comedy, extreme melodrama, magical realism and satire, and exhibits a deep cynicism that is unredeemed by a firm control of craft.

One wishes that the filmmaker himself had purchased a map so he could figure out where he was going with this.

The Facts

The film: ``Star Maps'' (R; sex, language).

The stars: Douglas Spain, Efrain Figueroa, Kandeyce Jorden, Martha Velez, Lysa Flores.

Behind the scenes: Written and directed by Miguel Arteta. Produced by Matthew Greenfield. Released by Fox Searchlight.

Running time: One hour, 35 minutes.

Playing: Laemmle's Sunset 5, West Hollywood; Laemmle's Monica, Santa Monica.

Our rating: One and a half stars

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Photo: Prostitute Carlos (Douglas Spain) has some words for client Jennifer (Kandeyce Jorden) in ``Star Maps,'' an unflattering look at Hollywood.