Slackers Review
by Jon Popick (jpopick AT sick-boy DOT com)February 4th, 2002
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Filmed way back in 2000 and having endured about a half-dozen name changes, Slackers doesn't expend one iota of energy trying to be anything more than what it is - a gross-out comedy with moderate box office expectations that is targeted toward the same teens (though most will have to bring a parent) whose repeated visits to the googleplex turned American Pie into the most eagerly unanticipated franchise this side of The Mummy and Men in Black (at least for me). The film knows it's not a blockbuster; it's not full of pretty-boy pinups from Teen Beat, it doesn't spoof any film genre, there are no appearances by any popular musical acts and no "alternative" rock songs by any band with a number in their name. In other words, Slackers is kind of refreshing.
The film takes place at Holden University (it was filmed at UC Riverside) and opens with just over a month to go before the graduation of its main characters. Sam (Jason Segel, Undeclared) plans on becoming a lawyer and Jeff (Michael C. Maronna) wants to join a stuffy financial firm, but Dave (Devon Sawa, Final Destination) is dreading graduation because he realizes he's having the time of his life in college. What separates these guys from the rest of their classmates at Holden is that they've never studied, attended class or written any papers. Instead, they cook up elaborate ways to scam their way into good grades while exerting zero effort (other than the planning and execution of the con jobs, of course).
At the beginning of Slackers, Sam has an important physics midterm (why Holden gives midterms with a month left in the semester and why a senior is taking physics are two questions that go unanswered), and we get to watch the intricate way the three grifters go about ensuring that he aces it. He does, but they hit a couple snags in the process. Dave ends up falling for a cute coed named Angela (James King, Pearl Harbor) and, more importantly, his hijinks are discovered by a fellow classmate named Cool Ethan (Jason Schwartzman, Rushmore), who has a potentially criminal crush on the same girl.
The spastic Ethan blackmails Dave and company, declaring he'll get them all kicked out of Holden unless they use their scheming ways to help him win Angela's heart. They agree, reluctantly, and the more Dave helps, the more he becomes attracted to Angela. Hilarity ensues in the form of female masturbation, sponge-bathing an old whore (played by Mamie Van Doren!), getting blown by your future girlfriend's mom and a singing penis. And that's just in the first half of Slackers, if that gives you any indication of what to expect here (the film was written by American Pie 2's David H. Steinberg).
Debut director Dewey Nicks, best known for helming a series of award-winning Ameritrade commercials that featured Maronna, doesn't do anything noticeably flashy here, though it's awful nice to see a film with big parts going to people you probably won't see on the cover of Premiere anytime soon (though this technique went over like a lead zeppelin for Segel's Freaks & Geeks and Undeclared). As in Rushmore, Schwartzman is a pleasure to watch, if not just to stare at his eyebrow, which covers more acreage than those found on Law & Order: SVU's Chris Meloni and Sesame Street's Bert. Segel, unfortunately, doesn't get much to do, and That '70s Show's Laura Prepon is relegated to the role of Angela's sex-starved roommate. There are also a bunch of credited and uncredited cameos, including Cameron Diaz, Gina Gershon, Sarah Silverman, and a very funny scene with Joe Flaherty.
Also interesting is the choice of music, which, as mentioned before, doesn't include the hot modern rock tracks of the moment. Instead, Slackers is filled with unique versions of popular songs (like a glee club version of Ace of Base's "The Sign" and the London Philharmonic doing "Baba O'Reilly"), as well as a closing credits number that mixes in some of the film's funny dialogue. Regrettably, Slackers is yet another movie that gives too many of its gags away in the trailer. How disturbingly funny would Ethan's "hair doll" have been if you didn't know anything about it before the movie started?
1:27 - R for strong language and sexual content, and for brief drug use
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