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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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 July 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

Richard Linklater's Slacker

Filming Locations:

Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$23,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$24,307, 5 July 1991, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$1,228,108

Company Credits

Production Co:

Detour Filmproduction

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min 100 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Color:

Black and White (bar scene) Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Happy-Go-Lucky Guy that 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 that 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 cab door is clear, but later sports a large sticker.

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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

References Scooby Doo, Where Are You! (1969)

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Soundtracks

Lackluster
Written and Performed by Poi Dog Pondering
Courtesy of CBS Records

User Reviews

Genuine and deadpan deadpan and genuine

I walked into Richard Linklater's SLACKER not knowing for sure what to expect. I think that is the best way to experience this film. I wouldn't exactly put this film under 'Comedy', if I ran my own video store. I would invent the category 'Post-Film School Experimental Piece' and place it under that. Because that is just what it is, but don't let that repulse you. It is very interesting and has the power to warp you in what seems like one shot throughout a day and night in a college town of Austin, Texas.

The true life preserver of this film is the sure directorial hand and witty script of Linklater. I enjoy the matter-of-fact philosophy within the dialogue of Linklater movies, (DAZED & CONFUSED, BEFORE SUNRISE)it is especially heavy here. It's fun watching the weirdos in this movie, like the video-obsessed droid who prefers taped sequences over reality or the chick with Madonna's pap smear (eewww!!) But it's almost frightening when you come upon a character very much like yourself.

But the movie most successfully gives us a town populated by characters we actually believe are living their aimless life in front of us. Minute-by-minute plays that intricately connect into a long string of slacker beads. These characters belong to the counter-culture where neurosis comes naturally and there are hardly skeptics anywhere. Where conversations find the metaphysical levels of funny postcards.

Later in the future, we will trip upon this movie again and find it more as being a time capsule of the early 90s than a semi-experimental comedy by a director most known for his insights of the sub-culture living inside their own heads.