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Review: A Slipping Down Life (**)
A SLIPPING DOWN LIFE
A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 2004 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): ** "Honey, you are way too qualified to be a rabbit," Violet (Sara Rue) tells Evie Decker (Lili Taylor), her best friend. Evie, who works as a cashier wearing a bunny suit at the Kiddie Acres amusement park, is a sad and suicidal woman who tries to escape life by burying herself into her headphones. Toni Kalem's A SLIPPING DOWN LIFE is a quirky comedy that's best summarized by a sign shown briefly: "Uneven Lane." Some of the dialog is zippy and funny, but the characters are never convincing or compelling. It's easy to see why the film has been gathering dust for over half a decade since it was first shown at the Sundance Film Festival in January of 1999. Why it suddenly found a distributor is a mystery. A direct-to-video version could have easily been relegated to the back of the video store shelves rather than taking up valuable screen space at the theaters. Evie finds her reason for living in Drumstrings "Drum" Casey (Guy Pearce), a guy who collects golf balls at a driving range during the day and sings -- and speaks -- as a rocker in a local club at night. Drum likes to stop singing and break into free verse during his concerts. His audience rightly loathes his moments as a poet, which include such ditties as, "You bend. You break. You disappear." and "If I tell you again, will you listen? I do not want what I have got." The movie will be remembered -- if it is remembered at all -- for Evie's act of self-mutilation. She carves "YESAC" on her forehead, or at least that's how most people pronounce it. The words are actually "CASEY," written in mirror image, a form of tribute to the only love of her life, Drum. She later laments that she didn't realize at the time that he went by the shorter and easier to cut "DRUM." The movie's biggest laugh comes from Faye-Jean Lindsay (Shawnee Smith), Drum's extra-sleazy ex-girlfriend. In addition to painting the word "HORNY" on her forehead with her lipstick, Faye-Jean tries to comfort the disconsolate Drum by saying how many times in her life she too has messed up. "I've blown some big ones too," she tells him with a big smile on her face. For a movie that really isn't very good, it does have its moments. But I've probably already told you more than enough about the story. And I didn't even have time to tell you about the blue-green tuna casserole in the shape of a semi-circular fish that Evie bakes for a special occasion. In case you miss the weirdness of the color, Evie's heavily stained fingers serve to remind you. A SLIPPING DOWN LIFE runs a long 1:41. It is rated R for "language including sexual references" and would be acceptable for teenagers. The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, June 4, 2004. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the Camera Cinemas. Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com Email: ************************************************** ********************* Want free reviews and weekly movie and video recommendations via Email? Just send me a letter with the word "subscribe" in the subject line. |
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