Slacker-A Loose Portrait of the Odd People Around US
Slacker is one of the loosest movies I've ever seen. There's no plot, only a sequence of conversations, each one a fascinating array of random conspiracy theories, political opinions, or philosophical thoughts. There's no specific lead character either, as the film goes from one character to the next in the loosest structure. The film will follow one character's conversation, only to follow the next character who passes by.
It makes the film less of a complete narrative and more of a portrait of people. People who all have different lives and drastically different opinions and philosophies; the one thing connecting all these characters is that they all appear to be in a different lost stage in life, as they all wander around various parts of the Austin, Texas area with seemingly no plan or direction to take their lives. Not every conversation is very interesting, but in a way, that seems to be the point, as Richard Linklater's script seems to relish in each conversation, from the fascinating to the mundane, in a way that makes the film into an authentic glimpse into all these people's lives.
What makes this all so engaging is how Richard Linklater captures each moment and conversation. There are minimal cuts throughout the film. Instead, Richard Linklater captures every moment in long takes and each conversation in long "walk-and-talk" tracking shots. In doing this, he gives every moment of the film this almost hypnotic quality, as the lack of cuts keeps you glued to each moment and conversation.
As I said, though, not every conversation was all that interesting. There's a multitude of very dry and stilted conversations. And while there's a bit of a charm in the mundanity of those conversations, the charm is short-lived as after a while, these scenes began to drag, and my attention began to wander. It doesn't help that the actors performing these somewhat dull conversations are non-actors giving their first performances, which can be very hit-or-miss. The film is rough around the edges in other ways, with occasionally lackluster sound design that can make some dialogue somewhat incomprehensible, as well as very obvious ADR.
But while the film may not always be the most engaging and is rough around the edges in ways you expect in a directorial debut, there's something so fascinating about Slacker that kept me thinking about it long after it was over. It's one of the boldest directorial debuts I've seen. The film contains such an unconventional structure that creates an authentic look into different people's lives and captures a sense of place and community so uniquely, which is incredibly impressive for a debut. I say this a lot about various movies, but I genuinely mean it when I say that I've never seen anything quite like Slacker.
Now Streaming on Max and the Criterion Channel in the U.S
