Review of Slipstream (2007) by Chads. — 26 Feb 2008

Five minutes into...hell, let's be honest here; thirty-seven seconds into "Slipstream", I was lost. I had to consult my Oxford Concise English Dictionary to look up the word "slipstream".

According to the OED, "slipstream" is defined as "an assisting force regarded as drawing something along with or behind something else." That helps explain the seemingly arbitrary flashbacks that are hurled at the viewer in abundance, in places where no filmmaker has ever placed them before.

Then there are the jump cuts, the off-kilter music cues, the lack of continuity, the external noise on the soundtrack, the Russian formalist style of editing, etc., etc., etc. "Slipstream" has the look and feel of a collaboration between Jean-Luc Goddard and David Lynch.

It's art film damage. "Slipstream" makes both "Pierrot le fou" and "Mulholland Drive" seem less ardurous to sit through by comparison. Actor-turned-director Anthony Hopkins made a film that no ordinary person would want to sit through.

Good for him. Who knew he had it in him to be a confrontational artist? "Slipstream" has the look and feel of a young man's movie. He's 71, folks. But then, in the final act, he shows his age; the funhouse thrill of disorientation wears out; the film's nonsensical presentation starts to make sense; all the looking glasses in the hall of mirrors are cracked except one.

Unlike the work of Lynch, in which story particulars are open for debate, "Slipstream", decidedly slips off its French skin and walks around like an American during the home stretch. From dadaism to didacticism; the filmmaker makes the mistake of being too tidy, especially so during the end credits.