Slacker (1991) by Richard Linklater

[jserraglio]

Selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry Reissued as part of the Criterion Collection.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynEAbiCDVJ4



Slacker is a 1991 American independent comedy-drama film written and directed by Richard Linklater (in his feature film debut), who also appears in the film. Slacker was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize - Dramatic at the Sundance Film Festival in 1991.

In 2012, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Slacker is a uniquely structured and seemingly plotless film, following a single day in the life of an ensemble of mostly under-40 bohemians and misfits in Austin, Texas. 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. The characters include Linklater as a talkative taxi passenger, a UFO buff who insists the U.S. has been on the moon since the 1950s, a JFK conspiracy theorist, an elderly anarchist who befriends a man trying to rob his house, a serial television set collector, and a hipster woman trying to sell a Madonna pap smear. The woman selling the pap smear appears on the film poster, and was played by Butthole Surfers drummer Teresa Taylor. Most of the characters grapple with feelings of social exclusion or political marginalization, which are recurring themes in their conversations. They discuss social class, terrorism, joblessness, and government control of the media.

Cast

Richard Linklater as "Should Have Stayed at the Bus Station"
Kim Krizan as "Questions Happiness"
Mark James as "Hit-and-Run Son"
Stella Weir as Stephanie from Dallas
John Slate as Conspiracy-A-Go-Go author
Louis Mackey as Old anarchist
Teresa Taylor as Pap smear pusher
Rudy Basquez as Taxicab driver
Louis Black as Paranoid paper reader
Abra Moore as "Has Change"
Frank Orrall as "Happy Go-Lucky Guy"[5]
Rachael Reinhardt as Cousin from Greece
Lee Daniel as GTO
Scott Rhodes as Disgruntled grad student
Bob Boyd as Officer Bozzio
Terrence Kirk as Officer Love
Mark Harris as T-shirt terrorist

Directed by Richard Linklater
Produced by Richard Linklater
Written by Richard Linklater

Cinematography Lee Daniel
Edited by Scott Rhodes
Distributed by Orion Classics

Release dates:
July 1990 (Austin premiere)
July 5, 1991

Running time: 100 minutes
Country United States
Language: English

[Wallingford]

There's more than a few of us out there......