Slackers - R\nStarring: Jason Schwartzman, Devon Sawa\nDirected by: Dewey Nicks\nShowing: Showplace 11 East\nA classical Hollywood narrative states that a film must have a three-act structure where characters are introduced, climaxes come about and a resolution ends the film leaving the audience with the satisfaction of knowing what just happened. This is how it's always worked with regular Hollywood films, but the narrative structure just states that the movie has to have these three things, not that all of them have to be good.\n"Slackers" is one of those movies where the film jumps up and down from being outstanding to horrible. The beginning is actually really good, but the film in its entirety is not evened out to make the picture a worthy see.\nDave (Devon Sawa) and his two friends are the biggest con artists on campus. They have never received a high grade for their study habits, just as a result of their elaborate schemes involving power outages, broken legs and stealing a lot of blue books. They're about to graduate, that is until "Cool" Ethan (Jason Schwartzman) catches them cheating, and more importantly, talking to his obsession Angela (James King). He then blackmails them into getting him the girl, with the threat of expulsion. Of course Dave falls for the girl as well, and the rest of the film is about jealousy and backstabbing.\nThe film starts off using subtlety to make its jokes through hilarious flashbacks and daydreaming sequences. After awhile the film takes a turn for the worse using stupid and lame gross-out jokes to try and make the audience giggle. Giving a sponge bath to a 70-year-old whore (ex-whore), and having a sing-along with a penis sock puppet are cheap jabs at a quick laugh that fall flat.\nSchwartzman puts on a decent performance here playing a very obsessive, stalking, bushy eye-browed weirdo, but the shtick only goes so far. It's good to see Michael Maronna, from "The Adventures of Pete and Pete," back at work after his stint with Internet stock company commercials, but the "is he gay?" thief he plays in "Slackers" won't be getting him great roles in the future. The film could have gone on to be really good, but with shameful side jokes that take the place of good narrative humor, everyone gets cheated here.\n
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