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Richard Linklater, Mark James, Stella Weir, John Slate, Louis Mackey ... see more see more... , Joseph L. "Mr. Spoons" Jones , Brecht Andersch , Aleister Barron , Rudy Basquez , Albans Benchoff , Nigel Benchoff , Stewart Bennet , Louis Black , Bob Boyd , Meg Brennan , Eric Buehlman , Jean Caggeine , Lori Capp , Jennifer Carroll , Sean Coffey , Janelle Coolich , Brian Crockett , Jerry Deloney , Samuel Dietert , Daniel Dugan , Keith Fletcher , Skip Fulton Jr. , Regina Garza , Charles Gunning , Ed Hall , Sarah Harmon , Jan Hockey , Stephan Hockey , Phillip Hostak , Bruce Hughes , Marianne Hyatt , Stephen Jacobson , Terrence Kirk , Dan Kratochvil , Shelly Kristaponis , Kim Krizan , Michael Laird , Gina Lalli , Kelly Linn , Eric Lord , D. Angus MacDonald , Nick Maffei , R. Malice , Scott Marcus , Ron Marks , Kathy McCarty , Keith McCormack , D. Montgomery , Abra Moore , Nolan Morrison , Charlotte Norris , Frank Orrall , Tom Pallotta , Debbie Pastor , Robert Pierson , Gary Price , Mark Quirk , Rachel Reinhardt , Tamsy Ringler , Sharon Roos , Kyle Rosenblad , Luke Savisky , Jennifer Schaudies , Lucinda Scott , Susannah Simone , Kendal Smith , Annick Souhami , John Spath , Kalman Spellitich , Maris Strautmanis , Don Stroud , Patrice Sullivan , Teresa Taylor , Scott Van Horn , Gus Vayas , Mimi Vitetta , Clark Lee Walker , Wammo , Greg Ward , Heather West , Kevin Whitley , Greg Wilson , Lee Daniel , Scott Rhodes , Robert Jacks , Kevin Thompson , Mark Harris , Steve Anderson (V) , Jean Caffeine , John Slater , Marc James

One of the key American independent films of the 1990s, Richard Linklater's feature debut is an audacious look at the twentysomething culture in the college town of Austin, Texas. Set over the course ... read more read more...of a 24-hour period, the film is a collection of short, unconnected glimpses into the dropout subculture, touching base with a variety of musicians, students, street people and general eccentrics. While there's no real plot to speak of, Linklater's eye for nuance and gift for dialogue are superb, and the portrait he paints is so uncannily accurate that the term "slacker" was almost immediately co-opted as a media buzzword, one interchangeable with the similarly-overused "Generation X." Regardless, the film is an evocative reflection of a community and its culture and remains a definitive artifact of its time and place. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

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77% liked it

8,495 ratings

Critics

84% liked it

32 critics

R, 1 hr. 45 min.

Directed by: Richard Linklater

Release Date: July 5, 1991

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DVD Release Date: September 14, 2004

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Flixster Reviews (797)

  • flixsterman
    March 18, 2012
    flixsterman
    A series of vignettes on life as a twenty-something resident in and around the city of Austin, Texas. Known in some circles as a "cult classic", Slacker features atrocious acting, shaky camera work and Madonna's pap smear.
  • blkbomb
    January 2, 2012
    blkbomb
    Anti-Artist: Uh, I don't do much really, I just read, and work here, and, uh, sleep and eat, and, uh, watch movies. 

    This review is going to be pretty short, as there's nothing really worth talking about. 

    Slacker is a plotless film that follows losers around. Most of the time,... read more these losers think they are geniuses. They talk about complicated issues, and give their theories on these issues. Every person the movie follows is that guy or girl you see on the street that starts talking to you about shit you don't care about. The only thing you can think about when around them is, I wanna get the fuck away from this weirdo. 

    Linklater made some good movies after this, and a bunch of critics adore this film. In my opinion, it is useless and boring. If listening to crackpots talk about nothing that really matters is your idea of a good time, have at it. I'll take Dazed and Confused, and Suburbia over this.
  • LoughnerWasLucid
    December 6, 2011
    LoughnerWasLucid
    if i was a cab driver who went to bed at 2:00 every morning and woke up at 4:30 every morning and worked with shitty, racist, boring, stupid people and had to drive a shitty car that worked less than half the time and had to drive around ugly places and pick up different shitty, ... read moreboring, pretentious people like the one in the first monologue (Richard Linklater) and this stale prick started babbling at my fucking tired, shitty personality about quantum science and lucid dreaming or what the fuck ever then i think i would be fairly entitled to do what Robert De Niro did at the end of "Taxi Driver."
  • hunterjt13
    November 27, 2011
    hunterjt13
    This film depicts various characters in Austin, all of whom share the same post-modernist, anti-establishmentarian philosophy.
    The beginning of the film shows a man getting into a taxi cab and discussing quantum physics with the cab driver. When he gets out, the film's focus swi... read moretches to another story about a woman who got run over. The focus of the film gets passed from character to character over the next hour and forty-five minutes. It's an interesting idea - passing the film's action like a hot potato - but I found two major issues with the execution.
    First, every character is interchangeable. I can't imagine the quantum physics guy radically disagreeing with the conspiracy theorist or the old anarchist. The film could have been one long monologue by the same character; it seems only coincidental that it's divided into different people.
    Second, the stories are often senseless and pointless. Yes, I understand that the point of Slacker is to portray slackers who, on the surface, may lead senseless and pointless lives, but there are occasions when the bullshit these characters spew becomes overwhelmingly deep.
    The film defies all the usual structural demands; there's no climax, rising action, or denouement. It just ends.
    And overall, when it did, I though that I had just completed a chore, a marathon that got me nowhere and taught me nothing.
  • fb1664868775
    October 27, 2011
    fb1664868775
    A very original debut from Richard Linklater.
  • cosmo313
    March 6, 2011
    cosmo313
    Richard Linklater's debut film is one I was expecting to (or figured I would) love. Instead, I merely really like it. For now it gets a strong B+. Many of his trademarks (which coincidentally arew things I like anyway) show up here: rambling conversations (often intellectual/phil... read moreosophical in nature), haivng the movie take place over the course of roughly 24 hours, oddball characters, long takes, and tracking shots. There is no pliot here, which'll alienate a lot of people, but I mostly liked that.

    This is essentaiily a plotless tour through the bohemian or slacker culture of Austin, Texas where the audience follows people from one conversation to another (it's a cool technique) and gets a glimpse at some oddball people that can be really fun to listen to. The film is something of a generational statement defining what makes Generation X tick. I't kind of plays like a free-form documentary, which is kind of cool. It's hard to tell how many of the people are really actors, and how much acting is really happening.

    Of the many eccentric characters, my two favorites are the Madonna Pap Smear Pusher (Butthole Surfers drummer Teresa Taylor) and an edlerly anarchist who befriends a guy who tries to burglarize his house. They probably are also the funneist and most interesting, but that's just me. I just wish that Taylor would have had more screen time.

    Even though this film is an acquired taste, it's still gonna have a limited appeal. I'd give it a higher grade, but it was a little more boring than I thought it might be, and also a bit too long and rambling. I'm glad I saw it though because it kind of seems like the sort of thing that I myself would make (or would like to). Probably the greatest compliment I can pay this film is that it really helped push along the independent film scene of the 1990s. Without this film Kevin Smith wouldn't have a career, and the popularizing of the slacker culture wouldn't exist, and not having those two things would be a real shame.
  • ythelastman89
    January 27, 2011
    ythelastman89
    It's a very particular type of movie. While I didn't find it all that fun or entertaining, it's a very important story being told. Generation X's meaning is literally being displayed on camera. A lot of the dialogue is obviously improvised and at times it feels more like a mockum... read moreentary than a narrative, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's just frustrating at times when you're used to expecting a straight forward movie.
  • romy861
    September 21, 2009
    romy861
    Interesting. Not a lot happens and there's no real plot to talk of, but it does have some appeal. What that is, I couldn't quite say.
  • DrZeek
    September 2, 2008
    DrZeek
    Working on Same Painting: Sorry, I'm late.
    Having a Breakthrough Day: That's okay, time doesn't exist.

    The first film written and directed by Richard Linklater, this is a uniquely-structured and plotless film, following a single day in the life of an ensemble of mostly twenty-s... read moreomethings in Austin. The film follows various characters and scenes, never staying with one character or conversation for more than a few minutes before picking up someone else in the scene and following them.

    Old Anarchist: And remember: the passion for destruction is also a creative passion.

    The movie is literally about nothing. We meet a whole assortment of characters, never see them again after their scenes consisting of either banter or dialog, and the movie eventually ends without having any standard structure. This is the kind of things some cult films are made of.

    Disgruntled Grad Student: Every action is a positive action, even if it has a negative result.

    Obviously done very cheaply and with no professional actors, the movie still manages to work due to the fact that the dialog is interesting, sometimes funny, but consistently approached in some sort of surrealist manner.

    Hitchhiker: Every single commodity you produce is a piece of your own death!

    This was one of the several films in the 90s that brought in the wave of independent films to wider audiences. It is also the film that inspired Kevin Smith to become a filmmaker. These points do not necessarily mean anything, but in terms of relating it somehow to someone, this is the kind of movie it is.

    Nothing happens, but it is filled with conversations that are interesting and intriguing. Yep, that is what will pass as a recommendation.

    Has Conquered Fear of Rejection: Do you have a car?
    S-T-E-V-E with a Van: Do you have a car, I have *a van*, lets go!
  • Chiefilms
    March 1, 2008
    Chiefilms
    The movie is pointless.

View All Slacker Reviews

Critic Reviews

Peter Travers
May 12, 2001
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

What Linklater has captured is a generation of bristling minds unable to turn their thoughts into action.

Hal Hinson
January 1, 2000
Hal Hinson, Washington Post

This is a work of scatterbrained originality, funny, unexpected and ceaselessly engaging. Full Review

Desson Thomson
January 1, 2000
Desson Thomson, Washington Post

The experience is funny, surreal and weird. Sometimes it's even scary. Full Review

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

A movie with an appeal almost impossible to describe. Full Review

Cole Smithey
March 26, 2012
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com

[VIDEO] "Slacker" is a hallmark of American independent cinema because it is so thoroughly original in its concepts and execution. Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
March 9, 2009
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

The indie film has a fresh feel. Full Review

Emanuel Levy
June 27, 2005
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

A charming ensemble piece, that may be the ultimate campus comedy, about media-fixated, affectless youngsters who became spokepersons for Generation X Full Review

Nick Schager
May 4, 2005
Nick Schager, Lessons of Darkness

An exercise in meandering self-importance. Full Review

Rob Thomas
April 7, 2005
Rob Thomas, Capital Times (Madison, WI)

A brilliant film that plays like a chain of linked short short stories.

Phil Villarreal
February 18, 2005
Phil Villarreal, Arizona Daily Star

A landscape-changing film for what it represents, as well as for what it contains. Full Review

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    • Working on Same Painting: Sorry I'm late.
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