Slacker (1990)

A day in the life of Austin, Texas as the camera roams from place to place and provides a brief look at the overeducated, the social misfits, the outcasts and the oddballs.

Director:

Richard Linklater

Writer:

Richard Linklater

Stars:

Richard Linklater, Rudy Basquez, Jean Caffeine

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Linklater	...	Should Have Stayed at Bus Station
Rudy Basquez	...	Taxi Driver
Jean Caffeine	...	Roadkill
Jan Hockey	...	Jogger
Stephan Hockey	...	Running Late
Mark James	...	Hit-and-Run Son
Samuel Dietert	...	Grocery Grabber of Death's Bounty
Bob Boyd	...	Officer Bozzio
Terrence Kirk	...	Officer Love
Keith McCormack	...	Street Musician
Jennifer Schaudies	...	Walking to Coffee Shop
Dan Kratochvil	...	Espresso Czar / Masonic Malcontent
Maris Strautmanis	...	Giant Cappuccino
Brecht Andersch	...	Dostoyevsky Wannabe
Tommy Pallotta	...	Looking for Missing Friend (as Tom Pallotta)

Storyline

Presents a day in the life in Austin, Texas among its social outcasts and misfits, predominantly the twenty-something set, using a series of linear vignettes. These characters, who in some manner just don't fit into the establishment norms, move seamlessly from one scene to the next, randomly coming and going into one another's lives. Highlights include a UFO buff who adamantly insists that the U.S. has been on the moon since the 1950s, a woman who produces a glass slide purportedly of Madonna's pap smear, and an old anarchist who sympathetically shares his philosophy of life with a robber.

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Plot Keywords:

austin texas | twenty something | philosophy | anarchist | pseudo intellectual | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Tous publics

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Happy-Go-Lucky Guy who gets ripped off by the newspaper machine is lead vocalist, musician and founding member of Poi Dog Pondering. The tune that he whistles after he passes the Sidewalk Psychic is "Postcard From a Dream (Toast and Jelly)" from their first studio album, recorded in Austin. The woman who claims to have change but doesn't give it to him is Abra Moore, though she had left Poi Dog by then.

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Goofs

The taxi cab that Linkletter's character gets into at the Trailways station is not the one he later gets out of near campus. The second one has a different unit number, a No Smoking sign, and a missing whitewall tire.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Should Have Stayed at Bus Station: [babbling to silent cab driver] Man, I just had the weirdest dream - back on the bus there? Did you ever have one of those dreams that are completely real. I mean they're so vivid. It's just like completely real. It's like, there's always something bizarre going on, though. I have one about every 2 years or something. I always remember 'em real good. Like there's always someone getting run over, or something really weird. Um, one time I had lunch with Tolstoy. Another time I was a ...

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Crazy Credits

At the end of the credits, the usual disclaimer is replaced with: "This story was based on fact. Any similiarity with fictional events or characters is entirely coincidental."

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Connections

Referenced in Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: The Good Son/The Program/A Bronx Tale/Bopha!/Dazed and Confused (1993)

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Soundtracks

Bills
Written and Performed by Bad Mutha Goose
Courtesy of Alpha International Records

User Reviews

The plot is... there is no plot

This movie has no discernable "plot" except to follow the lives of some of the most interesting and quirky people you are liable to meet. You follow one person, you get a snapshot of their life and the movie then takes off on the life of a person that may just be walking by on the street. You get just enough to encapsulate where they are at in life right now. Most are going no where and this is the reason for the movies title. Great dialogue here and great stuff to get you thinking about the strangest things (Smurfs as Hindu propaganda???). Great movie if you will just give yourself over to it and release all expectations as far as what a movie is supposed to be.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 January 2020 (France)

Also Known As:

Slacker

Filming Locations:

Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$23,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$24,307, 7 July 1991

Gross USA:

$1,228,108

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,228,108

Company Credits

Production Co:

Detour Filmproduction

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min 100 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Color:

Color Black and White (bar scene)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1