“Slacker” is unlike any film you have ever watched. Bold statement concerning the 1990 Richard Linklater groundbreaking indie, and a statement that’s used a bit too much in the movie reviewing world, but in this case fully warranted. Selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant,” the movie has garnered claim as being the birth for the independent film movement of the 1990s.
“Slacker” places its emphasis on Generation X, and serves as a period piece that introduces viewers to the decade of the 1990s. And like the subsequent fashion trends, musical style, and outspoken political beliefs of the era, the film has virtually no direction to it – and that’s what makes it such an amazing thing to watch.
Clocking in at 100 minutes, the movie is set entirely in real time, occurring on a random and typical day in Austin, TX. There are no actors on screen, rather, real life inhabitants (including Linklater himself) of the hipster city. The presentation is done with a series of vignettes, none of which are related to the other. We follow a random character for a handful of minutes as they go about whatever it is they were doing. At some point, the character will unknowingly pass the spotlight on to another, and then another, and this continues for the entire movie.
Slacker is close to being a single shot story. It has the remnants of an Off Broadway play with no stage break, special effects, or unusual props. As the characters come and go, you’ll see the genesis for reality TV as we know it. The tawdry film is like something from a prehistoric camcorder. There is literally no plot, making it comparable to another 90s gem, the show about nothing, “Seinfeld.”
We’ve seen Linklater get the most out of very little in other films. “Before Sunrise” is an entire movie depicting two characters on a date. Here, Linklater takes a seemingly endless cast of characters – all just regular people coming from various walks of life though some a touch quirky – and gives the audience a snapshot into their existence at a particular moment in time on this totally routine day.
The foreshadowing is something that will give you chills, as characters discuss issues with voter suppression and the (then) election of George HW Bush. The simple fact that the film is set in Austin on the precipice of the economic and cultural boom that would occur there is another uncanny facet. As is the case with the young adults of the 1990s, many have something controversial to say, and others are just happy getting by anyway they can. Parties, music, dating, and conspiracy theories – all subjects are touched upon.
“Slacker” is a thing to behold. It provides great insight and nostalgia for those of us who long for the 90s, while serving as a blueprint in the fine styles of crafting an artsy independent film. It’s one of the most fascinating movies you will ever watch.
