jts0405 Going into this, I thought Slackers was going to suck big time. I actually ended up, not loving, but enjoying this movie. It definitely is worth a watch one time. The greatest character is by far Cool Ethan. I feel that Jason Schwartzman played the part extremely well, and I could not see someone else in that role now. Other than Schwartzman's hysterical performance, this was basically just another comedy focusing around guy's slacking off and meeting girls. For a change we actually see it take place at a College instead of the normal High School backdrop. But really this is worth it for those that like a dumb yet funny movie.9/10

davidbb this script is so tight and moves along so well. the performances are terrific, especially jason schwartzman. the title doesn't do the movie justice. it should be called scammers or cheaters. its original the way these cheaters use their skills as college cheats as a way to get a girl for a loser.the movie has a cult following amongst hipsters, and generally amongst people who 'get it'. if you're some boring 40 year old living in michigan, its not the movie for you, but if you're under 30 and have a sense of humor, a witty one, and like original movies (unlike American pie etc), rent slackers immediately.

Phantasm01 The story is almost painfully familiar. Jason Schwartzman is a disturbed college student with a massive crush on the sweetly attractive James King. In order to trick her into not only noticing him but eventually going out with him, Schwartzman blackmails three cocky cheaters into helping him con her into giving him her affections. Unfortunately, the head cheater is played by Devon Sawa who, while not being half the actor that Schwartzman is, is much better looking and as such, King immediately falls for him and he falls for her and the rest of the movie deals with how to deal with Schwartzman. As said, none of the movie's particular plot points are extremely clever and a lot of the humor falls flat. Particularly annoying is the director's need to pad out the film with the same boring fantasy sequences that seem to pop up in all stoner youth comedies nowadays. Scored to kitschy pop standards from the early '70s (the type of stuff these slackers wouldn't be caught dead listening to in real life), these fantasy sequences are filled with unoriginal takeoffs on better films and tend to stop the action dead -- not good for a film that feels overlong to begin with.Still, for every dead spot, there's a bizarrely inspired joke or a skillful performance that'll pop up unexpectedly and these good moments are so inspired and provide such a strong pay-off that the viewer is almost left feeling as if he's being rewarded for managing to make it through the bad moments. It's as if the director is saying, "Sorry about making that 20th joke about flatulence, here's a little Jason Schwartzman to help ease the pain." Certainly, Schwartzman is the film's main strength. Playing yet another eccentric, overly intelligent stalker-type, Schwartzman creates a character that is 180 degrees the opposite of his starring turn in Rushmore. He brings a manic intensity to his creepy role that is fascinating to watch -- both because of the skill of his performance and because of the fact that this is a rare actor who is willing to push against all self-imposed limits while on screen. The audience finds themselves tolerating a lot of uninspired bits just for the chance to find out what Schwartzman's going to do next. Schwartzman pulls off a minor miracle, giving a perfect comedic performance as a character who, when you actually get to the heart of the matter, isn't all that funny. However, Schwartzman is not the sole redemption to be found in this film's cast as James King, while stuck playing a symbol (the "good girl"), still manages to be very sweet and adorable (in the best sense of the term) as the unwitting object of Schwartzman's affections. For this film to work, you have to be willing to buy that so many people would be willing to make idiots out of themselves to win the heart of one, individual woman and luckily, King manages to embody that woman, much in the same way that Cameron Diaz helped to lend some credibility to the far superior There's Something About Mary. As for the star of the film, Devon Sawa doesn't get to display the flair of wild comedy that distinguished his work in Idle Hands (truly the only role to give him a chance to definitely distinguish himself from the current crop of 20-something pretty boys wondering around Hollywood) but he's still a likable enough protagonist. If he doesn't get a chance to be as interesting as Schwartzman, he also doesn't allow this film to turn into Freddie Prinze, Jr. vehicule either. And while most of the direction is rather uninspired, there are still a few moments of inspired lunacy that'll either annoy you or leave you in hysterics depending on your taste in humor. (A bit with a singing gym sock is probably the best example of this.) These bits of inspired lunacy are too few and too far between to make up for the fact that this is -- overall -- a rather uneven mess of a film but, for what their worth, they're there and they certainly make the film a bit more interesting than most of the shlock being churned out nowadays.Slackers isn't a great film. It's probably not even a good film. But it is a film with some great strengths to go along with its far too numerous flaws. If you're in the mood for this type of film, there are definitely worse ways to lose 90 minutes of your life.

trappjl Slackers is one of the most unbalanced, bizarre movies I have ever seen! Half is chock-full of sexually charged, psychedelic, often disturbing, gross-out gags while the other is a tame, boring, run of the mill love story (lots of adjectives, I know). Despite its flaws though I found that on second viewing Slackers became a considerably more respectable movie then I had originally thought. Firstly, it has a great soundtrack which includes an orchestrated version of "Baba O'Reilly" and a choir version of "the Sign". Secondly, it has Jason Schwartzman and Michael C. Maronna whose craziness plays well off the gross-out gags. Finally, I'd like to commend this movie for how insane it really is once you get passed the boring plot.Unfortunately I can't bring myself to like Devon Sawa, whose great guy that gets the girl is utterly pathetic and too counter crazy to help this movie. Whenever things start to pick up it seems his character is always there to slow them down again. Jason Segel is also a difficult actor to like because his high-school/college stoner persona is always clouded by his naivety. And while we're on the subject my college experience showed me more sarcastic college characters (like the T.A.) then ones naive enough to believe in "true love". The final problem I have is that although I like Jason Schwartzman, its hard to find his psychotic character all that funny.Final verdict is a 6 of 10