Every once and a while a movie comes out that the critics can't stand. In fact, it seems like every other week doesn't it?
Well, this week it's Slackers, the very disjointed, (but still funny), comedy Starring Devon Sawa, James King and Jason Schwartzman. Dave (Devon Sawa), Sam (Jason Segel) and Jeff (Michael C. Maronna) are the best cheaters on campus cheating their way though college with elaborate scams and cons that probably take more planning and energy than it would take to actually study hard. No, there will be no moral judgement here. It's just an observation. Besides, the scamming looks like it's more fun than cramming for finals. Luckily, it's fun for the audience as well.
Things are going alright for our 3 man crew until Dave makes the mistake of taking Ethan's (Jason Schwartzman) seat during an exam. Dave also screws things up by flirting with and giving a phone number to Angela (James King). The problem isn't that Dave gave his phone number. It's that he wrote it on a teachers copy of an exam... which Angela didn't take with her.
When Ethan finds this incriminating evidence he threatens to get the boys kicked out of school unless they hook him up with his dream girl, Angela. So, our "slackers" set out to do the impossible by finding out what makes Angela tick by visiting her dorm room and parents home, stealing her notebooks and copying e-mail files. This is all for not because the socially awkward Ethan doesn't have a chance. Especially since it's Dave that she likes and not "Cool Ethan".
As with all teen comedies there is conflict. Some newly found trust issues temporarily break up the threesome and when Angela finds out that Dave may have seduced her only because of Ethan's blackmail scheme she breaks up with him. Eventually our cheaters figure out that their friendship is more important than a diploma. With his friends help, Dave finds the courage to finally confront Angela and tell her the truth as well as how much he loves her and how he found his true self by loving her blah, blah, blah. Nothing really new here.
What is funny about "Slackers" are the frequent fantasy sequences and dick and fart Jokes. Some gags are very funny such as Ethan's fantasy making out with 2 girls at once and a sequence portraying the friendship of the "slackers". Of course some are not so funny such as Ethan groping a 70 year old Mamie Van Doren. Ugh!).
The real standouts of the flick are Jason Segel and Michael C. Maronna. You may remember Segel from his guest performances as Eric, Lizzie's on again off again boyfriend on TV's Undeclared and Maronna playing a "real" slacker in the Ameritrade commercials. These two upstage Sawa and Schwartzman easily. It also helps that they are included in the films funnier scenes. They also seem like they had the most fun on the set. Laura Prepon (That 70's Show) has a small role as Angela's very sexual roommate. She really doesn't have much to do except masturbate on a couch and complain that the test in a woman's magazine rates her "two points above skank" (Go Figure).
The major problem is that while many of the gags in the flick are funny on their own, many of them seem out of place and seem to be there only to break up the "run of the mill" love story. Also, upon closer inspection the blackmail plot is full of holes. Our heroes could have easily stolen all of the evidence back making Ethan's case very weak.
So, while you shouldn't expect the worst comedy of the year, (so far, that honor goes to Kung Pow: Enter the Fist), "Slackers" belongs in the "guilty pleasure" file. It's not bad enough that you'll hate it. But, it's not good enough to recommend it without feeling embarrassed that you paid "good money" to see it.
