You know a movie is bad when its trailer pretty much gives the entire plot away. Such was the case for “Paparazzi.” If you have seen the trailer, save your money and avoid the full-length version at all costs.

In case you missed the trailer, the plot goes something like this: Bo Laramie (Cole Hauser) is the next big action star in Hollywood. He has a loving wife and adorable son. Unfortunately for him though, a pack of paparazzi is hounding him and snapping photos of his family wherever they go. After a few struggles with these guys, the paparazzi forces Laramie into a car crash that injures his wife and puts his son into a coma.

But Laramie comes out with only psychological scars. He remembers the paparazzi standing over him at the wreck, snapping photos. Laramie decides to take matters into his own hands.

What follows is a simple revenge story. We’ve all seen it a hundred times by now. The main character slowly hunts down each person who did him wrong, usually killing off each one in a different fashion. At the same time, a sympathizing detective starts to connect obvious clues.

“Paparazzi” still could have been good — or at least fun, if it had just realized how stupid the idea was. The cast and crew could have had fun with this. Instead, everyone seems extremely serious and driven by a story full of lame dialogue and gaping plot holes. For instance, how on earth did anyone in the Los Angeles Police Department not think about checking the traffic cameras when Laramie and his family were in the crash? Wouldn’t that be one of the first things that they would check?

As for the bad guys, they are so slimy that they probably bleed oil. They are completely one-dimensional and seem to have no purpose in life other than annoying celebrities. I’m sure real-life paparazzi get intrusive and rude, but this extent is ridiculous.

Another annoyance is the detective character, played by Dennis Farina, who always seems to play a detective. You can never tell what side he is on. Is he trying to help out Laramie by hiding evidence, or is he playing mind games with the movie star? Nothing is explained as to why he is investigating, and, by the end, he seems to have dropped the investigation altogether.

But the biggest fault in this convoluted mess of a movie is the director’s lack of direction. Between every scene, there is a long shot over Los Angeles and Hollywood. After about 20 of these, you begin to think the director is more interested in showing off this town.

When you put all these elements together, it becomes obvious why the studio didn’t screen this film. We’ll have to wait until the end of the year, but don’t be surprised if this movie makes a serious move at sweeping “Worst Film of the Year” for 2004.