Movie Review: 'Slackers'

An angry, delusional man becomes obsessed with a beautiful woman. He follows her everywhere and compiles a video library of her going about her daily business. He contrives to work where she works. He decorates his room with her photos and even creates a doll from her stray hairs. He loves and hates her, and he has fantasies in which she's "screaming and screaming and screaming." Funny, no?

No. Not funny. The above description sounds like the basis for an unpleasant thriller. It sounds like a prelude to violence. Instead it's the central plot line of "Slackers," a discordant comedy that gives bad taste a bad name.

Jason Schwartzman plays Ethan, a college nerd who's neurotically obsessed with Angela (James King). One day he uncovers a test- cheating scheme and goes to the three perpetrators -- a trio of slackers, hence the misleading title. He threatens to have them expelled unless they help him get Angela. But Ethan is an entirely repellent character. Not much of a chance there.

With the exception of Angela, every woman goes through "Slackers" in a frenzy of sexual heat, making for some absurd and even grotesque scenes. Mamie Van Doren plays a hospital patient who insists on a sponge bath from a hospital orderly. This leads to a protracted topless scene, in which the 70-year-old former bombshell oohs and ahs in a state of arousal. The scene isn't particularly amusing, but it does remind us why clothes were invented.

Devon Sawa plays the romantic lead, a slacker who falls in love with Angela in the process of wooing her on Ethan's behalf. Sawa is an engaging enough screen presence, even if he does give the impression of having practiced his smirk in the mirror.