Film

Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in Chicago, plus articles, trailers and more

 

Slackers (2002)

Director: Dewey Nicks

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

With this first feature, Nicks may have cracked the 'slacker' genre with a tightly scripted, eccentric and at times insane tale of the exploits of Dave, Sam and Jeff: a high-school trio whose increasingly complex methods of avoiding work (while still making the grades) are eventually uncovered by creepy geek Ethan (Schwartzman). His prize for not squealing? The guys must bag him Angela (King), brightest, most beautiful girl on campus. But in his pursuit of duty, Dave (Sawa) falls for Angela himself. The movies given the nod here include Mrs Doubtfire, There's Something About Mary, The Graduate and William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet. It's undoubtedly a lads' film (the implausible romantic stuff feels like an afterthought), though the laughs are almost entirely at their expense. If it's unlikely to stimulate the brain cells, it will almost certainly make you laugh out loud.

Author: JFu

Time Out Film Guide


  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields





Features

Turkey or gravy?

Turkey or gravy?

We've got some advice about family moviegoing for the holiday weekend.

Holiday gift guide

Instructions on how to get your own customized soda machine (and other, slightly more rational gifts for your film-loving friends).

Holiday film preview

Are you more interested in seeing the Daniel Craig movie, the Steven Soderbergh movie or the Freddy Rodriguez movie? Answer carefully.

Boyle's orders

The director of Slumdog Millionaire talks about the joys of filming on the cheap in India after having worked under Hollywood's thumb.

Time and again

Wong Kar-wai spruces up his underseen martial-arts epic, Ashes of Time.

Mergers and acquisitions

A new deal between the Underground Film Festival and IFP pays off.

Chicago Festival of Israeli Cinema

The films we previewed offer very few reasons to kvetch.