Review of Slacker (1990) by Chris W — 06 Mar 2011

Richard Linklater's debut film is one I was expecting to (or figured I would) love. Instead, I merely really like it. For now it gets a strong B+. Many of his trademarks (which coincidentally arew things I like anyway) show up here: rambling conversations (often intellectual/philosophical in nature), haivng the movie take place over the course of roughly 24 hours, oddball characters, long takes, and tracking shots. There is no pliot here, which'll alienate a lot of people, but I mostly liked that.

This is essentaiily a plotless tour through the bohemian or slacker culture of Austin, Texas where the audience follows people from one conversation to another (it's a cool technique) and gets a glimpse at some oddball people that can be really fun to listen to. The film is something of a generational statement defining what makes Generation X tick. I't kind of plays like a free-form documentary, which is kind of cool. It's hard to tell how many of the people are really actors, and how much acting is really happening.

Of the many eccentric characters, my two favorites are the Madonna Pap Smear Pusher (Butthole Surfers drummer Teresa Taylor) and an edlerly anarchist who befriends a guy who tries to burglarize his house. They probably are also the funneist and most interesting, but that's just me. I just wish that Taylor would have had more screen time.

Even though this film is an acquired taste, it's still gonna have a limited appeal. I'd give it a higher grade, but it was a little more boring than I thought it might be, and also a bit too long and rambling. I'm glad I saw it though because it kind of seems like the sort of thing that I myself would make (or would like to). Probably the greatest compliment I can pay this film is that it really helped push along the independent film scene of the 1990s. Without this film Kevin Smith wouldn't have a career, and the popularizing of the slacker culture wouldn't exist, and not having those two things would be a real shame.