Slackers (2002)

Why do I have the feeling that this is going to read like I'm a bitter jerk who can't relax and enjoy something for what it is? OK, think of American Pie, at least the first one; wouldn't you say that you can describe the most featured characters(that, by the way, can not be cut from the flick without it impacting something), and that they'll be consistent, their actions being ones that you can recognize as ones you might, under similar circumstances, see yourself taking? I hate to sound like that guy who asks for the volume to be turned down, but there's a reason for the former producing hits, in and outside of this sub-genre. Here, essentially, no one has any personality and can't even remain consistent to their one defining attribute, often behaving however the jokes and gags demand them to. Sense is thrown out the window as a common practice in this. That can work, but this lacks an "anchor", there's nothing to relate it all to reality. Also, it often tries way too hard at times; an easy example is, well, you know how these often have someone who's just... weird. Not necessarily any explanation provided, that's merely how he is. This one has two. To be fair, if you accept this at face value, it can be funny, albeit it tends to confuse controversy with humor. This should be recognized for its creativity(if this quality of it possesses all the aim of a cluster-bomb fired in the dark), with dream/fantasy sequences and other odd stuff. Sawa and King bring charisma and acting talent to this, aspects it would otherwise have none of. The pace and energy to this aren't bad. There is plenty of strong language, a lot of moderate sexuality, several hot chicks and brief nudity in this. I recommend this to big fans of R-rated teen comedies. 5/10

The film is amusing and Devon Sawa plays himself, yet again, in this teen comedy fare that takes place in College. The story centres around these three guys who cheat their way (elaborately) throughout college. This one 'loser' who calls himself Cool Ethan (played by Jason Schwartzman in a stand out role, discovers this and blackmails them in order to get a date with this hot chick that he is stalking. I use the term stalking loosely, he has a shrine dedicated to her, a video of her playing in this shrine 24/7 and he collects her hair all over campus and made a hair doll that he sleeps with/talks to and uses to masturbate. Weird right? Formulaic script goes on and Sawa falls in love with the girl he was paid to seduce for Schwartzman. She discovers this and hates him, he has to do something romantic and win her back, yawn. Jason Segel is one of the three 'slackers' before his rise to fame and right after his role Freaks and Geeks. It's nothing big, just a supporting role. The film is really weird and out there, even for a teen comedy. One of the slackers, the ginger one, sings to his penis...and his penis literally sings back to him. He has a sock on it and it sings, mouth moves and everything. Why is this scene here? What does it do for the film? I have no idea. This character is weird and funny though, one standout scene is when he has to finish an exam and the teacher calls for pencils down. He continues to write and flips off the teacher, the teacher yells that he has failed. When he walks up to the desk the teachers says don't even bother handing it in, the ginger asks if he even knows who he is. The teachers replies no, so the kid throws his paper in the middle of the pile of tests and throws them around, then runs away. Funny and something I can see actually happening....singing penis, not so much.I did laugh, mainly because Schwartzman stole the film. Segel has gone on to be a part of a hit show and a regular for the Apatow crew. Schwartzman has a new show on television and has his bits with Wes Anderson. Sawa? I don't even know what he's doing anymore. He has his fame when he was younger and the girls wanted him. He got ugly and fell off the map. I wanted more of their elaborate cheating schemes and less of the love story that doesn't make sense. They love each other after two or three dates?

I'll start by saying I wasn't offended because of any raunchy or debauched stuff. I am not sensitive at all when it comes to sex humor or any sort of sophomoric low-brow stuff. If it's funny, I like it.That's the problem though: this piece of crap movie simply was NOT FUNNY!!! It's just a stupid, worthless collection of "this is how crazy college guys live" stereotypes, with a truly cringe-worthy love story slapped on top. I don't think there was a single line that I found interesting or unique in any way.Again, I am the last guy to be offended by anything "explicit". But I am offended when formulaic BS crap is passed off as comedy.

Slackers is one of the most unbalanced, bizarre movies I have ever seen! Half is chock-full of sexually charged, psychedelic, often disturbing, gross-out gags while the other is a tame, boring, run of the mill love story (lots of adjectives, I know). Despite its flaws though I found that on second viewing Slackers became a considerably more respectable movie then I had originally thought. Firstly, it has a great soundtrack which includes an orchestrated version of "Baba O'Reilly" and a choir version of "the Sign". Secondly, it has Jason Schwartzman and Michael C. Maronna whose craziness plays well off the gross-out gags. Finally, I'd like to commend this movie for how insane it really is once you get passed the boring plot.Unfortunately I can't bring myself to like Devon Sawa, whose great guy that gets the girl is utterly pathetic and too counter crazy to help this movie. Whenever things start to pick up it seems his character is always there to slow them down again. Jason Segel is also a difficult actor to like because his high-school/college stoner persona is always clouded by his naivety. And while we're on the subject my college experience showed me more sarcastic college characters (like the T.A.) then ones naive enough to believe in "true love". The final problem I have is that although I like Jason Schwartzman, its hard to find his psychotic character all that funny.Final verdict is a 6 of 10