Contrived as a drama and hokey as a comedy, Almost Salinas features Frasier star John Mahoney as the crotchety owner of a diner in a small California town near the site of James Dean’s fatal car crash. When a movie crew for a biopic on Dean descend on this little corner of the world, a would-be whimsical tale unfolds. This independent project has good intentions and only means to charm, but I could say the same thing about some of the most annoying dogs I know.
