根据吴铁翼同名小说改编。影片根据战后的上海物价飞涨，人心不古的现实状况，演绎了一个大老板图谋小职员的积蓄，小人物诈骗大老板不义财的人骗人的故事，既凸现出深刻的社会写实意味，又具有辛辣嘲讽的都市庶民喜剧特色。

特拉沃（克里斯汀?贝尔 Christian Bale 饰）是一个机械师，他的工作内容繁忙机械，日复一日，令他日渐消瘦，连睡眠都出现了严重的问题。长达一年里，特拉沃成为了无法睡眠的怪人。怪事也从此陆续发生：他在公寓里面发现了一张神秘纸条；总是感觉有一个共事的工友，在一次意外中工友失去了一只手，所有的同事都把这个意外归咎于特拉沃，令特拉沃众叛亲离，唯有身边当应召女郎的女友一直在支持自己。然而，事实又好像并不是这样，那张纸条，那个工友，似乎都不是现实的事情，特拉沃陷入了巨大的谜团当中。

When a nature photographer explains to the Police how she fought her way out of the Watchatoomy Valley, they dismiss her crazed and violent story as a meth-induced nightmare. But when they discover that she's telling the truth, it's too late.

14 international awards, including an Academy Award Nomination and the Special Prize of the Jury at Cannes International Film Festival, this film presents a surrealistic and humorous satire on the Madison Avenue image of the world through advertising. It Shows a man sitting in a bathtub on a pier at the Hudson River with a background of the New York skyline. He is typing underwater with the words literally going down the drain. Opens the door, and a stripper wrapped in toilet paper appears, and attempts to seduce him. Neat jazz score by Cool Jazzmen Gerry Mulligan & Bob Brookmeyer.