KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?

Ehirerapp Waste of time

AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

Dotbankey A lot of fun.

ajrg-17-381639 I love this movie. It is of the genre of the absurd life in a small southern town and the humor is understated. For that reason it is apt to be unrecognized as such. But it is the North American version of magic realism with the unlikely being taken in stride by the characters and the likely made interesting. On the surface it is a tale of two people who are confused for very different reasons, who find that together they make one functioning whole. His reality is that of the artist who puts together words and images to make a feeling, and hers is him. She loves his music, words and the man. He needs security and someone to attend to reality. She is not beautiful but she understands him. He makes a plain girl who normally hides from the world into someone who values herself and enables them both to change. I love his songs too.

Agent10 A Slipping down life was shelved for many years, and the lack of real hipness or accessibility is probably to blame for this. Helmed by two indie stars Lili Taylor and Guy Pearce, this film was held back simply because neither person could conceivably carry this film.But unlike some crappy movies that see a rebirth it didn't deserve, ASL was quietly pushed into the underground cinema and then quickly reborn on cable. And while this doesn't sound good on paper, ASL actually surprises you a little with some of the little nuances within each character's performance (with the exception of Sara Rue and Shawnee Smith---ugh!!). Lili Taylor exhibits yet another introverted woman who is somewhat shunned not just due to her nature but also her looks. Much like previous films Dog Fight and even The Haunting (where her character was visibly overwhelmed by Catherine Zeta-Jone), Taylor makes you believe she is her character rather than an actor. And some people say method acting is dead.Guy Pearce is especially interesting in this film. I especially liked the transgression of him embodying all the things his father hates and then turning into his father near the end. It was a strange transformation but an effective one. And its even more impressive how he can cover up his deep Australian with an effective North Carlina twang.While the plot was pretty random at best, at least these two performances added some life to a film that would have been altogether listless.

jdesando I am a fan of Flannery O'Connor's Southern gothic, the kind of short stories that define `grotesque,' where humor is slow, characters are off center, defects abound, and life is a series of stops along the born-again trail. First-time writer/director Toni Kalem (`Sopranos') channels O'Connor when a lady sitting in an early scene of `A Slipping Down Life' has a large wound on her knee, not featured but just there as the camera pans the group.Besides minor grotesqueries, the major one consists of the name Evie Decker (Lili Taylor, `Casa De Los Babys') inversely carves on her forehead with broken glass: `Drumstrings. ' `Drum' Casey (Guy Pearce, `Memento') is a soulful country singer catching wallflower Evie's fancy, implausibly marrying her, and along with her going through a few hells on the road to rebirth. The thirteen original songs Pearce sings are melancholic country, all the more impressive because of his singing.The road is littered with Southern stereotypes (O'Connor never allowed those types in her very original stories) like Clotelia (Irma P. Hall, `Lady Killers'), whose black housekeeper is a true throwback to unoriginal Hollywood typing of the early 20th century. Add Drum's rube family members and slutty Faye-Jean Lindsay (Shawnee Smith) as an oversexed, overacting girl friend and you have an inexperienced director ignoring the nuances of Anne Tyler's novel, from which Kalem adapted.But `A Slipping Down Life' belongs to Lili Taylor, who gives us a sympathetic young virgin, lovingly attached to her introverted widower father and doggedly determined to make something of Drum's talent and her life. Her underplayed demeanor and plain looks offset the grotesque mark on her forehead; her strength of character ("I've never backed down on anything in my life") serves further to distance her from the usual Southern hicks so popular in immature cinema. In his `Autobiography,' W.B. Yeats described the link between self and happiness and renewal so much a part of this film's power: `I think that all happiness depends on the energy to assume the mask of some other self; that all joyous or creative life is a rebirth as something not oneself, something which has no memory and is created in a moment and perpetually renewed.'Although the story brings no surprises and repeats some Southern chestnuts, the film ultimately succeeds because of the principals' considerable acting talent and the sheer truth of a young couple trying to escape their tyrannical roots to be reborn.

anhedonia I saw this earlier this year at a film festival and was pleasantly surprised by it. This is a well told story with some thoroughly engaging performances.People used to seeing Guy Pearce in intense roles should be in for a nice surprise. It's a low-key performance as a budding singer and he plays very well off Lili Taylor, who turns in yet another wonderful performance.Although the subject matter might seem a bit weird, initially, Pearce and Taylor build such a beautiful rapport that you buy into the story and go along for the ride. The script is peppered with delightfully understated humor. There also are two superb supporting performances by Sara Rue and Shawnee Smith. Even Bruno Kirby has an entertaining cameo.I'm surprised this film has yet to be released commercially and is only now receiving publicity. If you're in the mood for a charming, quiet, funny and offbeat film, this one will do the trick.