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Critics Consensus: Slacker rests its shiftless thumb on the pulse of a generation with fresh filmmaking that captures the tenor of its time while establishing a benchmark for 1990s indie cinema.
Critic Consensus: Slacker rests its shiftless thumb on the pulse of a generation with fresh filmmaking that captures the tenor of its time while establishing a benchmark for 1990s indie cinema.
All Critics (35) | Top Critics (6) | Fresh (30) | Rotten (5) | DVD (9)
What Linklater has captured is a generation of bristling minds unable to turn their thoughts into action.
The experience is funny, surreal and weird. Sometimes it's even scary.
This is a work of scatterbrained originality, funny, unexpected and ceaselessly engaging.
A movie with an appeal almost impossible to describe.
On the whole, this is a fascinating example of apparently fly-on-the-wall film-making, made all the more intriguing when you discover it was all planned like a military exercise.
Pretension is kept at bay by the fact that whenever someone is holding court, the others in the scene barely seem to be listening.
Linklater is very aware that his film doesn't have a linear narrative and the movie is structured with that knowledge, as well as for a variety in tone and theme.
[VIDEO ESSAY] "Slacker" is a hallmark of American independent cinema because it is so thoroughly original in its concepts and execution.
The indie film has a fresh feel.
A charming ensemble piece, that may be the ultimate campus comedy, about media-fixated, affectless youngsters who became spokepersons for Generation X
An exercise in meandering self-importance.
A brilliant film that plays like a chain of linked short short stories.
A perfect portrait of Austin, Texas in the nineties, this film is full of vignettes of what it is like living out your twenties in that time period. It balances between being a love letter to Austin, and a diatribe about the collective characters that you meet when you're young. Linklater's films have often been heralded as centering on realism in contrast against the absurd. From the "Anti-Artist" in the bar scene to the conspiracy theorist in the book store, we've heard, and listened to, and felt exhausted by many of these same people in our lives. Though this film is nearly twenty-five years old, it feels just as relevant in today's times. Academia is always full of hotheads and passionate centenarians alike. This too is the world of liberal society, happy to philosophize about every aspect of life but intent on not living it. This film is funny, intellectually stimulating, and perversely amazing with its characters and cult following. A definitive piece of Linklater filmmaking and cultural iconoclast in the world of indie filmmaking, this is a must watch, in any case.
Super Reviewer
In Richard Linklater's first feature film, there are clear moments of technical mishaps and set issues, however, with such an ambitious project most of that is forgivable for being his first film. There is no linear plot in this film, but it feels more like a relay race/hangout film, as one scene with characters seamlessly leads into another scene with new characters, and so on. "Slacker" is all about the lives of burnout teenagers as they live their lives after college. It was just very interesting to see how alike and how different some people are from each other. This film is brilliantly written, but that is what Richard Linklater's films are (character driven). Aside from some technical issues that may or may not take you out of the film, you should be able to really enjoy this film. It is a fantastic first attempt for director Richard Linklater, who Produced, Directed, Wrote, and appeared in this film. "Slacker" is great!
Even in this early stage of his career, Linklater makes his ambition known. Though the entire thing probably won't resonate with everyone, there may in fact be something for everyone in this weird, meandering narrative experiment that will change the way you think about the strangers you see every day.
The camera tracks the aimless slackers of Austin, TX, following one for a few minutes and then veering off to chase another as they drink coffee and spout a 50/50 mix of philosophy and conspiracy theories. An experimental portrait of the subculture of bright but unambitious dropouts and unemployed postgrads that exists in every college town.
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