Indie Classics: Slacker
While watching Richard Linklaters indie favorite Slacker, it takes a while to realize that not only is there no plot or story line, but there isn’t even a main character you’re supposed to be following. However, once the you’ve come to terms with this concept, it becomes very easy to settle in and enjoy the brief episodes featuring the musings of over a hundred characters, who make up Linklaters portrait of early 90’s bohemia in Austin, Texas.
The film takes its viewer all over the city as it introduces a cast of twenty something “slackers” who think too much and do too little. The very first of these characters, the young man trying to make sense of his dreams in the taxi cab, is Linklater himself. Some of the people the you encounter throughout the movie produce highly intelligent postulates about life and society, often unintentionally, such as the gem of wisdom from the guy describing the aging process: ” They get fat and make fun of themselves, isnt that what all old people do anyway”? Indeed! Others however, I would not deem “overeducated”, as the ensemble is described as a whole in the DVD summary. Amongst the true thinkers in Austin, the bohemian scene is also filled with crack pot conspiracy theorists, androgynous hustlers trying to sell Madonna’s pap smear, and others who would be best described as insane rather than an intellectual slacker. I thought that was actually the most interesting angle of the film, the way that Linklater created an ecclectic combination of the sane and the mad, all the while inferring that they all actually pertain to the same social demographic of early 90’s radical thinking bohemia.
Despite all of the very well written and naturally delivered dialogue, (Linklater assembled what I thought to be a very talented cast), personally, my favorite aspect of “Slacker” was its ability to depict the essence of a generation. I am a big fan the decade in which the film was made and took place, everything from the fashion to the fascinating and very specific mentality of Generation X, which was captured brilliantly through Linklaters assortment of individuals, without resorting to flannel wearing, grunge loving cliches.
The structureless style of the film may not be for everybody– honestly, despite my interest in the central theme of the movie, I found myself getting slightly restless towards the end. The experience of watching “Slacker” can be analogous to a conversation with your most eccentric, free spirited hippy friend, who at first can seem quite innovative and thought provoking in their unorthodox world views, but after a while becomes rather transparent, boring and repetitive. I definitely wouldn’t mind watching “Slacker” again, but not for a while– like I said, confused, apathetic quasi-intellectuals are only entertaining in small doses.
January 13th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
I completely agree. A really enjoyable film filled with characters no other director could give justice to. I even liked it more than one of his other films Waking Life which is also well worth a viewing.