Screen Gems "Slackers", a film about college students, provides a new look at academic life.
“Slackers”
Starring Devon Sawa, Jason Schwartzman, James King
Directed by Dewey Nicks
Teenagers and crude humor have historically provided a winning combination in Hollywood, but “Slackers” lacks quality vulgarity. It relies on the shock value of its gross humor to entertain, but the humor is so absurd and unusual that it is difficult to determine when to laugh and when to cringe. What “Slackers” does deserve credit for is trying to find fresh new ways to disgust its audience. The gross scenes, however, feel like they were inserted as an insurance policy against waning attention spans. With the use of hair dolls and penis puppets, “Slackers” enters the realm of obscure crudeness. The irreverent comedy follows three college students who construct massively complicated scams in order to pass their exams. When nerd Ethan (Jason Schwartzman) uncovers their con, he blackmails Dave (Devon Sawa) into helping him attain the beautiful Angela (James King). Although its humor can be a bit out of place at times, “Slackers” provides amusement in the form of stupidity. Jason Schwartzman is a dazzling psychotic stalker and Devon Sawa epitomizes undergraduate laziness. Although it may be completely bizarre, “Slackers” manages to blend romance, intrigue, and obsessive-compulsive behaviors in creating a mindlessly entertaining film.
Emily Camastra
Courtesy of Outrider Pictures "American Adobo" focuses on the lives of contemporary Filipino Americans.
“American Adobo”
Starring Paolo Montalban, Christopher De Leon, Dina Bonnevie
Directed by Laurice Guillen
Filipinos in America deserve to have films that cater to their experience, and director Laurice Guillen and writer Vincent R. Nebrida have certainly delivered the goods. But beyond that, the film is a failure. What begins as a derivative but generally good-intentioned work ends as such. If anyone ever wanted a movie with as many “homages” to Woody Allen, Ang Lee, and Edward Yang as possible, then this movie would be it. While not shying away from difficult issues such as AIDS, the film shuns such narratives and focuses on its other goal of portraying interesting Filipino characters, succeeding to a small degree. Adobo’s audience is the Filipino Americans who still get excited about the fact that the person who played Rufio (Dante Basco) in Spielberg’s “Hook” was Filipino. Indeed, while “Adobo” itself is not the great film it could have been, hopefully seeing Filipinos on-screen will open the doors to a new generation.
Howard Ho
Courtesy of Miramax Films Nicole Kidman shows her dark side to Ben Chaplin in "Birthday Girl."
“Birthday Girl”
Starring Nicole Kidman, Ben Chaplin
Directed by Jez Butterworth
Never order a Russian mail-order bride, no matter how sexually repressed conditions may be. She may look like Nicole Kidman, but there’s something shady about this bride, a woman who rarely speaks and rims her eyes thickly with black liner. It is no wonder John Buckingham (Ben Chaplin) tried to call the agency back, displeased with who they sent. This is only where the journey begins. Nadia (Nicole Kidman), the “wife,” forces him to bed, where they finally develop a strange kind of affection for each other. But it isn’t until her birthday that this questionable romance turns into a thriller. Viewers will go on an emotional rollercoaster, being shocked one moment, touched in another and then amused, especially with the fast pace of the film. The director effectively contrasts the scenes of passion with those of innocence and connivance. Kidman’s transformation into a dark Russian is almost always convincing, but fails to capture the glow of her usual screen personality. Chaplin, however, plays a perfect one-dimensional banker, causing audience members to pity him for all his misfortunes and his collection of porn videos. But later, he displays impressive variations of character. It is difficult to fathom how such affection developed between Nadia and John, barely having exchanged words. Maybe animalistic love scenes can substitute for a few years of communication. But other than that, the plot is exciting and entertaining, with a common mix of spontaneity and predictability.
Sophia Whang