Some of Hollywood’s hottest young talent cut their teeth on this ultra-hip movie, among them Matthew McConaughey, Parker Posey, Milla Jovovich, Ben Affleck and Adam Goldberg. But it’s Jason London and Rory Cochrane who carry this freewheeling story, as a couple of high-school wasters on the last day of the summer term, not daring to look beyond the party in the woods that night.
After giving voice to the disconnected youth of Austin, Texas, in his highly influential debut feature, Slacker, director Richard Linklater here defines the same generation as teenagers in 1976 – the year of the American Bicentennial.
Employing a deceptively simple pseudo-documentary style, this is school daze à la Fast Times at Ridgemont High(1982), as opposed to the nostalgic wallowings of such rose-tinted memoirs as American Graffiti(1973).
This is teenage in the raw, with all the attendant angst, arrogance, aggression and amorousness. Every kid who was in your class is in here somewhere.
Rarely have the attractions and distractions of killing time been so well presented. With a superb sense of period and a scorching soundtrack – Kiss, Alice Cooper et al – this honest and incisive portrait of the way we were is both funny and scary and ranks among the very best rock ‘n’ roll high-school movies.
Randy “Pink” Floyd
Jason London Don Dawson
Sasha Jenson Slater
Rory Cochrane Mitch Kramer
Wiley Wiggins Jodi Kramer
Michelle Burke Pickford
Shawn Andrews Tony
Anthony Rapp Mike
Adam Goldberg Sabrina
Christin Hinojosa Michelle
Milla Jovovich Wooderson
Matthew McConaughey O’Bannion
Ben Affleck Simone Kerr
Joey Lauren Adams Cynthia
Marissa Ribisi Benny
Cole Hauser Darla
Parker Posey Clint
Nicky Katt
