Making its world premiere at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival, this story adapted for the screen and directed by first-timer Toni Kalem is based on the Anne Tyler novel of the same name. The story deals with finding love in a dead-end life. Evie (Lili Taylor) is a loner, living with her widowed father, who works at an aging kiddie park where she is a costumed cartoon character. One night she hears the words and music of a musician named Drumstrings Casey (Guy Pearce) on the radio, and Evie is
immediately infatuated by him. She attends his concerts and falls in love with him. The problem is he doesn't know she exists, so Evie decides to carve Casey's name on her forehead with broken glass. The resulting media attention gets her an introduction to Drumstrings Casey himself. From there, a relationship develops as Casey needs Evie for creative support and Evie needs Casey for emotional stability. Soon after, they get married; unfortunately their problems only get worse as Casey's career takes a nosedive and Evie's father passes away. Will these two people make something of themselves or will they forever just be slipping down life? ~ Chris Gore, Rovi
It's interesting, not fascinating, intriguing, not electrifying. But for those in the mood for an offbeat pleasure, A Slipping Down Life may well satisfy.
What at first seems like observed, exaggerated truth soon reveals itself as a series of writerly conceits being followed doggedly to some logical conclusion.
What's slipping here isn't so much life as judgment on the part of Taylor and Pearce, two splendid actors marooned on bad-script island where nothing really works.
In spite of Guy Pearce's enigmatic performance, the film is too slow moving and strange to be successful. Lili Taylor is once again bland, but she does give a decent performance. I am supposed to care about some obsessed nutcase that carves the name of her idol with broken glass on her forehead? Don't thinkl so! Pearce
does his own singing and is quite good.
December 7, 2009
James Higgins
Not a whole lot to say about this one. It was interesting and original and Pearce gives his usual great performance, but there just isn't a whole lot going on. The singer doesn't seem great enough to justify his attitude, but it works in a way. What really made this stand out to me is that it had plenty of chances
to take a cliche route (and I kept expecting it to) but it didn't. The writer was smart enough to take the road less travelled.
Also - Not sure, but it sounds like Pearce did his own singing. Either way, he sounds capable of being in an actual band.
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