Willie Talburt, a talented but down-and-out screenwriter, thinks his luck is changing when he snatches $300 off a drunk’s shoes at a legendary West Hollywood bistro and then meets exotic Veronica Blainewell. He would do anything to see his name on one of the giant billboards that loom high over the Sunset Strip, and she offers him the chance. But the deal and the dame don’t turn out to be as sweet as Willie’s dreams.

Sunset Stripped is a cautionary tale concerning sexual obsession, blackmail, and murder. It’s the roaring ’80s, a time of greed, cocaine, and Iran-Contra. Narcissism is the fashion, AIDS is the new reality, and Ronald Reagan is snoozing at the wheel.