As you watch 'Multiple Sarcasms,' a reasonably intelligent, decently acted examination of a New York architect's midlife crisis, starring Timothy Hutton, the question that arises is why? Why devote a single moment of your time to listening to his character, Gabriel Richmond, bellyache ad nauseam about having everything and still being miserable? That everything includes a patient wife, Annie (Dana Delany), a museum curator, and a smart, playful daughter, Elizabeth (India Ennenga), who is on the verge of adolescence. It also includes a best friend and soul mate, Cari (Mira Sorvino), who is a record executive signing punk bands. Joan Jett even puts in an appearance. The story is set in 1979, near the end of the typewriter age and before Prozac. When Gabriel is given a cassette recorder, he begins moping out loud into the device and transcribing his musings into what he hopes to turn into a play. Meanwhile, his marriage to the nice but deadly dull Annie crumbles, and he is fired from his job. Even then he seems to have no financial worries. (In one scene he blithely takes a cab to visit a friend in upstate New York.) If 'Multiple Sarcasms' is crammed with period signifiers -- the movie 'Starting Over,' the Afro hairstyle of his gay work buddy, Rocky (Mario Van Peebles), the strains of 'Me and Mrs. Jones,' heard in a bar, not to mention typewriters -- it still feels more like today than three decades ago. Woody Allen proved long ago that the self-pitying introvert is a fit subject for a movie, but only if the film has a strong enough sense of humor to make us laugh at ourselves. But Brooks Branch, who directed 'Multiple Sarcasms' and wrote the screenplay with Linda Morris, was either too lazy to come up with the absurdist aphorisms that might give 'Multiple Sarcasms' a lift, or he labored under the delusion that Gabriel's metaphysical malaise is such a fresh idea that it deserves microscopic inspection. The movie also peddles the fantasy that playwriting at the beginner's level can generate serious money. At the end of the film, when we see excerpts of that play performed onstage, the audience is laughing. I can't imagine at what. PRODUCTION NOTES: 'MULTIPLE SARCASMS' Directed by Brooks Branch; written by Branch and Linda Morris; director of photography, Jacek Laskus; edited by Plummy Tucker; music by George J. Fontentette; produced by Chris Bongirne; released by Multiple Avenue Releasing. Running time: 1 hour 37 minutes. With: Timothy Hutton (Gabriel), Mira Sorvino (Cari), Dana Delany (Annie), Mario Van Peebles (Rocky), India Ennenga (Elizabeth), Laila Robins (Lauren) and Stockard Channing (Pamela). WITH: Timothy Hutton (Gabriel), Mira Sorvino (Cari), Dana Delany (Annie), Mario Van Peebles (Rocky), India Ennenga (Elizabeth), Laila Robins (Lauren) and Stockard Channing (Pamela). 'Multiple Sarcasms' is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). It includes strong language and sexual situations. 