A SLIPPING DOWN LIFE
Directed & Written by: Toni Kalem, based on the novel by Anne Tyler.
Produced by: Richard Raddon.
Director of Photography: Michael Barrow.
Edited by: Hughes Winborne.
Music by: Peter Himmelman.
Released by: Lions Gate.
Country of Origin: USA. 111 min. Rated: R.
With: Lili Taylor, Guy Pearce, Sara Rue & Irma P. Hall.

Drumstrings (Pearce) is a rock guitarist whose ambitions of promising stardom are easily thwarted by his frustrations with audience members who don't connect to him and distracted by the girls who do. Upon hearing his voice over the radio, an introverted and ungainly young woman’s listlessness turns into rapture, and captivated, Evie (Taylor) accompanies her friends to the local roadhouse to hear her newfound idol. She soon devotes herself like a disciple, converting the bar patrons to his predestined calling of fame and fortune. Her efforts start to pay off, but Evie and Drumstrings's hunger for more success meets up with the hard-knock realities of disloyal fans, lost opportunities, and the tensions within their relationship.

With a cast of fine actors, one would think all would be well. However, director/writer Kalem’s decision to use older actors in the main roles ultimately subverts the sensibility and strength of the novel, where Evie and Drumstrings are teenage loners struggling to find direction, self-worth, and a way out of their small town. In the film, they and their closest circle of friends are in their mid-20s to early-30s. In making these characters older, one gets the sense they're already more world-weary, and as a result, their awakening to eventual disillusionment is less poignant.

Clearly Tyler specifically chose to make her protagonists adolescents. In her book, their awkward confrontations and self-delusions bring a bittersweet naiveté to their growing pains. Evie and Drumstrings’ lack of social graces is less incongruous. Their impetuousness has an undercurrent of immaturity trying to come of age, as opposed to being simply eccentric and selfish.

Taylor (Household Saints) shows, again, her facility with characters in the throes of fanatical fantasy, but in addition to the age problem, she is also too physically attractive for the ugly duckling Tyler had in mind. Pearce brings a cool rock-poet sexuality to Drumstrings, the apple of Evie's eye, yet the chemistry between them is not especially dynamic. Max Rennix, actor/writer based in New York
May 13, 2004