Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Redundant and unnecessary.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Dave (Devon Sawa), Sam (Jason Segel) and Jeff (Michael Maronna) are three experts at scamming cheating their way to graduation from Holden University. Only they get found out by geeky Ethan Dulles (Jason Schwartzman) and blackmailed to win over hot girl Angela Patton (Jaime King).While it's great to see some of the great future stars in action, there's nothing likable about anybody here. In particular, Jason Schwartzman is aggressively unlikeable. The style is ugly. The story is ugly. It's all ugly. The only thing not ugly is Jaime King and Laura Prepon. Although it's very freaky to have the name James King.

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

For me, Slackers wasn't a poor film, but it wasn't, by far, the greatest comedy ever written. I am basing this fact on the "laugh" factor. For a reason that I cannot explain, I found myself mildly entertained by this film. I don't know if it was the constantly changing tone of the film, or the fact that Schwartzman pulled the comedy off with the greatest of skills, but this meager film critic found some value in this little off-beat comedy. I will have to whole-heartedly agree with other critics that Slackers was cliché, random, and at times, very very dull, but overall it seemed to fit. I have found quite a bit of articles comparing this film to the infamous American Pie movie, but to me, it seemed more like a less-nudity, less-bodily gas humor version of Animal House. The intelligence skirted around this film, at times entering in it providing one or two great moments, but overall it couldn't counter the random blandness that seemed to further creep in, surpassing the greatness.I think we should begin with the good of this film, because again, it is what stood out greater in the scheme of it all. Jason Schwartzman. Bar none he carried this film. From his random songs, the great scenes in which he "volunteers" with Angela, and his well-celebrated hair doll, Schwartzman was funny. In fact, as you watch this film, one could say that in each scene Jason is honored to be in, he dominates them. His lines are not just perfect, but his mannerisms seem to also accentuate his character very well. Schwartzman is worth the price of the rental alone. Outside of me just drooling on Jason's character "Cool Ethan", I thought that the sporadic (and need I say random) way that this film was actually filmed, with the "Magic Number" relapse, the true way to help Ethan find a girl, and the singing sock – of which that is all I believe I can say. These enjoyable interjections made Slackers a bit more unique. I wasn't expecting this level of satire for such a small film. It felt like director Dewey Nicks did his comedy homework. He knew how to make some people laugh. Now, I am not saying that he graduated from Comedy College, but he did finish his homework early as well as do the extra credit.Jason Schwartzman was phenomenal in this film, but those that accompanied him deserve some respect as well. While I think that Devon Sawa was struggling in this film (see next paragraph), his co-conspirators held their own. Jason Segel reminded me of a young Ken Marino, just not as funny) and Michael C. Maronna had a funny bit or two. Laura Prepon, of That 70s Show fame, added some flair to the duller moments, but seemed more like eye-candy than any sort of actual actor value. The hair doll was an odd, yet fun element. I don't want to drool over Schwartzman in this entire review, but it was entire do to him that this film did not fail in my eyes. He was short, spastic, and completely unappreciated by other critics. This was one of those small films that allowed Schwartzman to fully grow and demonstrate his humorous ability. I could go on for some time, but I have to discuss the ultimate pitfalls of this film.Slackers was funny, but it wasn't great. I don't think I could bear to watch a second time. While I previously drooled over the amazing comic ability of Schwartzman, he could not match the downfalls of this film. There was not visible plot. There was a very cliché storyline that could be viewed in nearly every other film of this genre, but nothing that immediately stood out. While I did just mention how amazing the one to four humorous imaginative scenes were (thus making it a memorable film – not just forgettable), there were plenty of faulty scenes that followed. I would have to criticize Jaime King for her very poor acting in this film. She was purely placed in Slackers to advance the story, nothing more, nothing less. Her lines were wooden, her character was trite, and nothing was appealing about her in the least. She attempted some comedy, but obviously could not handle the talent that surrounded her. The same could be said about the ending of this film. While I did think that it wrapped up decently well (for a comedy college film), there were increasingly more random moments (one featuring Cameron Diaz) and less actual character development. I wasn't expecting a character driven story here, but I was expecting to know this trio a bit more. I would have loved some history on "Cool Ethan" and his demonic love for Angela. I felt that everything suddenly situated at the end of the school year. Why couldn't we have seen Ethan's passion for Angela grow instead of tossed directly in our faces? I just seemed that Nicks should have expanded his comedy segments, developed a funnier story with Ethan, and given us a stronger female lead, and he would have had a keeper of a film. Instead, he force-fed us mediocrity, until we could not do anything but enjoy it.Overall, I liked Slackers for trying to break the genre norm. Did it succeed in being imaginative and original? My answer world be "no", but it did give over 100% in trying. For those wanting to see Schwartzman roots, this would be a great place to start. I will agree that he was playing from his Rushmore character a bit to much, but I didn't mind. He was out of the box and insane at all the right places, bringing some much needed chuckles to the film. I would recommend it to friends, but not as more than a one-night viewing. It definitely had some potential, director Nicks just chose not to exploit it.Grade: *** out of *****

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.