97th Worst Movie: Slackers

"Slackers" Starring Devon Sawa, Jason Segel and James King
Directed By Dewey Nicks

Slackers or Whackos?
By Michele Dillon

This was another one of the movies that I had already seen. I had watched it a few years back and I didn’t really think much of it then about whether it was good or bad. However, I didn’t put it on my list of favorites either. Now that I watched it again and was actually paying attention enough to critique the film, I can officially say, this is the 4th movie I have watched on the list, and I have not disagreed with it yet. I have watched my fair share of horrible movies in my life; it feels kind of weird watching so many in a row. I’m sure that by the end of this blog, I won’t dare watch another bad movie again…for at least 2 months. So let me get started on why this movie, for lack of a better word, sucked. For one, I am really sick of actresses like James King that put a bad name out there for other ladies who are trying to make their name in this business by actually using their acting chops. King, along with other young actresses such as Scarlett Johannsen, uses her sex appeal and tries to pass it off as a good performance. Yeah, it may be good to any man watching the movie, but for us women who don’t get blinded by her “amazing beauty” are stuck watching her acting instead, which is definitely lacking. On the other hand, as far as actors go, this movie has someone in it that I admire and respect for his talent; Jason Segel. This movie was made WAY before that respect grew however and everyone has a bad stage in their game and therefore, I forgive you Jason. So as for the plot, Slackers is about three guys who are in college who have made their way so far by concocting outrageous plans to cheat on their exams. This is working out for them quite well until a crazy psycho who is in love with a girl that one of them decided to talk too, blackmails them into trying to get her to like him or he will turn them in for cheating. Great storyline right? Wrong. These three guys are supposed to be smart enough to hack into the college computer systems, steal answers for tests and have gotten away with it for 4 years. We are supposed to believe, that in instead of using their superior knowledge to try and get the proof that the crazy psycho has to incriminate them, they are just going to go along with his whacko plan to swoon the girl for him. As if watching Jason Schwartzman portraying someone who is loony enough to be a serial killer isn’t enough to make the movie bizarre, it’s the random integrated scenes of dream sequences that have nothing to do with the movie’s plot whatsoever and are not entertaining which makes them a completely pointless addition to the film. I vow to never make another bad comment toward Halley Berry again if it means I don’t have to watch this overzealous, fanatical joke of a movie once more.