Five guys work in a store. None of them want to be there. All of them have dreams for something bigger. Yet, here they are, getting by at the local suburban strip-mall, working in a low-end electronics retail store called Elecrti-City.

Just like the people working there, the products live in the shadow of similar yet more well-known brands…and the employees, for the most part, know that. All the while, we cannot help but laugh at them — each of these five characters lead boring lives yet somehow manage to make the best of their collective lots.

Such is the tale of The Strip, a dizzying comedy poking fun at both suburban and strip-mall culture at the expense of a few “lost” souls, each trying to cling on to something bigger but making everyone watching them laugh at their attempts to be more than meager.

There is Glenn (Dave Foley), the very experienced retail employee who finally made manager and is eerily too enthused about his job, leading a lot of disinterested employees who struggle to sell low-end, no-name electronic goods. He made a comfortable life in retail, but it all comes crashing down when he meets an attractive manager of a new store that recently opened in the same strip-mall, and now he struggles to find a balance in his life as he begins to tread backwards.

Treading absolutely nowhere at all is Jeff (Billy Aaron Brown), who coasts through life doing as little as possible and creates more harm than good in his electrical experiments. Of course, when he is not harming himself with electronics, Jeff finds a way to be absolutely clueless about everything else in life – including how to not get involved with his boss’s wife.

Another person who is equally as clueless without realizing so is Rick (Cory Christmas), the former high school basketball phenom who is now an overachieving salesman and a temperamental yet aspiring actor who manages to “score” with the ladies – only to bring them home to mom and have her treat the girl of the night to breakfast and a complimentary drive home.

Speaking of homes, Avi (Federico Dordei) is new to the United States, arriving here from India via Italy in hopes of establishing residence in the ‘burbs to make lots of money and find a wife. When the woman (played by Noreen DeWulf) he is set up with for a potential wife is drop-dead gorgeous, Avi suddenly questions whether he will be good enough for her, and makes every effort to discover some higher level of confidence and manhood.

All the while, Rick (Rodney Scott) is trying to come to terms with his manhood. Everything seemed fine at first – his father owned several Electri-City chains and was trying to groom Rick to own a few more chains himself. Yet his life was thrown for a loop when he fell in love with a beautiful blond (Jenny Wade).

As each story unravels, everyone involved must succumb as much energy as possible to prevent their respective lives from falling into complete discord and chaos – and somehow the “dreams” everyone had are suddenly put into perspective. Soon, everyone comes to realize that the most important thing in life is love and friendship, and such relationships mean more than any material pipe dreams we come to have as we meander through the jungle of life.

With a unique cast of both fresh and veteran actors who provide just the right amount of depth, substance and comedy to each individual character, The Strip is quite the memorable flick.

In a role that is quite different from his days in Kids in the Hall and NewsRadio, Foley delivers a stellar performance as a small-time store manager who lives in the smallest of bubbles and does not really pay much attention to the rest of the world around him. Christmas is perhaps the most memorable in playing Rick, as his delivery, timing, and comedic presence is first-rate, reminding the moviegoer of Jack Black in his prime. In playing a naïve foreigner, Dordei is quite easy to laugh with, even though most moviegoers will not be able to relate to him as a person. The very mannerisms of Avi are funny enough to make the audience genuinely laugh at his lot in life, and Dordei seems to be a natural in bringing out the best of his character. Brown is above average in playing the lovable loser, and Scott seems to be average, at best, in playing one of the film’s lead characters.

Yet, collectively, the intertwining stories of The Strip are not only on-point comically but are also a refreshing memory that, at least for those who live in the suburbs, it is every easy to get caught up in such a narrowly focused lifestyle and lose sight of some of the finer, more important things in life.

Directed by debutant Pakistani-American filmmaker Jameel Khan, The Strip opens today and is now playing in select theaters. The independent film is rated PG-13; running time is 91 minutes.