Slackers

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 college 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.