SLACKER
Directed, Produced & Written by: Richard Linklater.
Director of Photography: Lee Daniel.
Edited by: Scott Rhodes.
Released by: Criteron Collection.
Country of Origin: USA. 98 min. Rated R.

DVD Features Disc One: Three commentaries with Richard Linklater and members of the cast & crew. Casting tapes. Early film treatment. Home movies. Ten-minute trailer for a documentary about the Austin café, Les Amis, a location for Slacker. Still gallery. New high-definition digital transfer with restored image & sound.
Disc Two: It's Impossible to Learn to Plow by Reading Books, Linklater's first feature, with commentary by the director. "Woodshock" short. "The Roadmap," the Slacker working script with deleted scenes & alternate takes. Footage from the Slacker tenth anniversary. Trailer. Slacker culture essay by Linklater. Information about the Austin Film Society.

Slacker prides itself on taking the road less traveled. American indie icon Richard Linklater's breakthrough film doesn't produce a story so much as the possibilities of stories among a group of loafers in a lethargic Texas college town. There is an undeniable charm flowing throughout the film. To define it would be to misinterpret it, as Slacker is all about wonder, not about action.

In essence, Slacker feels and looks like a documentary about Generation-Xers. But the film was sharply scripted by Linklater, almost to the point where if it had been improvised, you get the sense the footage wouldn't be all that different. During the course of the film, the camera abruptly leaves characters when our interest is on the verge of peaking and veers off, following others. Initially, this tactic may seem abusive to the viewer, but rest assured, Linklater takes you where he does for good reason, finding interest where you would least expect it.

The film would like to beg the question, "What would happen if we went that way instead of this way?" However, Slacker mostly gawks and chuckles at its semi-fictional subjects. Most notable among them include a woman in possession of Madonna's Pap smear and a man convinced that one of the moonwalkers spotted an alien spacecraft.

DVD Extras: "Showing Life," a segment among the casting tapes, joyfully exposes that Linklater's inspirations for the film's characters are, in fact, minimally different from their on-screen portrayals. Amazingly, Linklater's first feature-length film, It's Impossible to Learn to Plow by Reading Books, is included on the second disc. Another exploration of everyday life, the film is worth a look, although the audio and video qualities leave much to be desired. The same goes for "Woodshock," a short film about a local music festival. "The Roadmap" offers a ton of deleted/alternate scenes, including an extended cut of the always-welcome aforementioned spacecraft observer. Also of interest is "End of Interview," which follows the 10th anniversary screening of the film, complete with cast and crew updates. Michael Belkewitch
November 25, 2004