Slackers (**)
review by Jon Waterman

Three college students are caught cheating on a mid-term exam by an unpopular geek.  In exchange for him not telling on them, they decide to help the guy get the girl of his dreams.  However, there’s a problem.  One of the cheaters is falling in love with the target girl.  Uh oh.  Whatever will they do?

Eh, who cares.  It’s not the most complicated story in the world.  It’s not exactly original, either.  Who’s watching the movie for the plot, though?  Not me.  I saw it because I wanted to laugh.  So, the big question is “Did Jon laugh?”  Yeah, at times.  Not as much I would have hoped.

Dewey Nicks makes his directorial debut with this wacky teen comedy.  It’s just about what you would expect from this type of film, especially with a newbie at the helm.  It’s probably a safe bet that he won’t become a superstar, nor one of those that makes the great art flicks we all love so much.  It looks like he’s headed for a career full of "Tomcats"’ and "American Pie 2"s.

Remember me talking about that wonderful three-dimensional story with in-depth characterization and full of witty insight about today’s society?  No?  Well, remember what I said in the first two paragraphs?  That was written by David H. Steinberg.  Remember me talking about "American Pie 2?"  This guy is responsible for the story of that movie.  So, we all know what he’s capable of now.  Most of the situations in the movie are weird and awkward rather than funny.  There are some disturbing aspects that just don’t work.  I must grant him that he wrote some good jokes in there.  I remember one great joke, and I think that was mostly in the delivery by Jason Schwartzman.

Jason Schwartzman makes this movie what it is.  He’s the reason, if any, to watch the film.  The rest of the cast has to try to play off of his great reactions and physicality, but they are overshadowed.  The real reason I saw the film was because Michael C. Maronna, a.k.a. Big Pete, is in it.  “The Adventures of Pete and Pete” was/is one of my favorite shows, and so any connection to it is worth a peek.  Unfortunately, Maronna doesn’t get a chance to really distinguish himself as anything of note.  James King is nothing special as the love interest.  Devon Sawa ain’t too great either.  The third “slacker,” played by Jason Segel, is along that same caliber.  In fact the only actors worth mentioning are Jason Schwartzman and the teacher, Robert B. Martin Jr..

I do have a problem, though.  The title should not be Slackers.  The three “slackers” do not slack.  They actually seem to put a lot of planning into their work and they make the most of their opportunities.  This is the opposite of slacking.  Instead it should be called something like Scammers, or Cheaters (although there are already two pictures with that name in the past two years).  I don’t know titles, but the one they have is inappropriate.

Bottom line:  should you see this movie?  Sure, if you want to.  I’d wait for video, though.  No sense in paying more for the big screen experience when the theater doesn’t add much to the picture.  You’ll get some good laughs, one great one, and who knows, maybe you’ll like it more than me…that is highly possible.

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