Intense acting and good literary pedigree aside, it’s not that difficult to see why “A Slipping Down Life” has been kicking around since it debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in 1999. There’s something sideways and obscure about this movie.
Based on a novel by Anne Tyler (“Breathing Lessons”), “A Slipping Down Life” is set in a small town in the south. It’s the story of Evie (Lili Taylor), a lonely woman who works in an amusement park. She dresses as a large rabbit. For her job, that is.
The road-to-Damascus moment in her boring life comes when she hears a musician on a local radio station. He is Drumstrings Casey (Guy Pearce), a rock and roller with a fondness for “speaking out” during his performances.
Drumstrings is a bit of a hollow shell – his mumblings have all the coherence of Jim Morrison’s less lucid monologues. He doesn’t even seem to know what the name “Drumstrings” means. But Evie sees something different in him.
Inspired by his live performance at a bar, she abruptly goes to the restroom and, with a broken piece of glass, carves the name CASEY in her forehead. The jagged scar this leaves is bad enough, but the word is also backwards – she was looking into the mirror while she cut herself.
This bizarre act might be seen as pathological, but to Evie, it’s a declaration of independence. And the movie pretty much backs her up on that.
The way it brings her into the life of Drumstrings (whose manager sees the publicity possibilities of having Evie around) is the point of the story. “A Slipping Down Life” is a weird kind of love story, or at least a story about people finding out stuff about each other that leads to something like love.
That roundabout description suggests the movie’s elusiveness. Director Toni Kalem, who is also known as an actress (“The Sopranos”), does nice work with the actors, and has chosen some good Ron Sexsmith songs to help move the story along.
But the momentum stalls too often, and too many scenes sit there isolated. Lili Taylor brings her daft, born-again intensity to the central role, but Evie remains a pretty baffling character. As does Drumstrings, similarly well-acted by Guy Pearce, the “Memento” guy.
In the strong supporting cast, Shawnee Smith is a scene stealer. She plays Evie’s white-trash friend from the amusement park. Her comment to a co-worker dressed as a giant nut – “Easy, peanut” – is my favorite line reading in the film.
It’s got moments. But whatever the novel had that made the idea come together hasn’t been carried over to the screen.
Guy Pearce and Lili Taylor star in “A Slipping Down Life.”
“A Slipping Down Life” HH
Elusive: Lili Taylor plays a small-town girl whose devotion to a local rock star (Guy Pearce) drives her to carve his name in her forehead – backwards, since she’s doing it in the mirror. A sideways kind of movie, based on an Anne Tyler novel.
Rated: R rating is for language, subject matter.
Now showing: Metro, Uptown.
“A Slipping Down Life” HH
Elusive: Lili Taylor plays a small-town girl whose devotion to a local rock star (Guy Pearce) drives her to carve his name in her forehead – backwards, since she’s doing it in the mirror. A sideways kind of movie, based on an Anne Tyler novel.
Rated: R rating is for language, subject matter.
Now showing: Metro, Uptown.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
