Review of Slacker (1990) by Sol H — 16 Mar 2009

Craptacular.

The film is a series of unlinked snapshots of different characters' lives. You see each character for maybe 10 minutes and then they're gone, before you get a chance to care.

The writing is APALLING. The writer clearly knows what he's doing when it comes to writing monologues expressing himself, however this does not a good screenplay make. Normal people don't talk in that so unatural, clearly rehearsed way. Certainly not everyone. And that's another reason that this film was lame: every character is identical. Why have a whole series of different characters if they are all EXACTLY THE SAME? Add that in with that all the characters do is spew out annoying, hippie bullishit and you're left with little reason to watch.

Obviously, it was made on a shoestring budget, so the shite acting and production values are excuseable (most blatant boom mic in shot ever), but hey, the film is shit on pretty much all grounds, not just technical so it's okay to bash the technical side too.

I get that the film was trying to go against the grain and not follow Hollywood conventions by having no plot or followable characters whatsoever, but you know what? There's a reason conventions exist. Since the start of film, things have worked and things haven't and the conventions we're left with are a blueprint for what works. There's nothing bad about following convention providing your film isn't hideously cliche.

So yeah, it's crap basically.

Personal enjoyment: 2/10.

Actual quality as a film: 2/10.