Richard Linklater

Slacker

SubUrbia

There’s a whole world of complex, mind-expanding cinema out there, some of which I’ve covered on this blog. There is also a world of cinema that’s far less complex—a realm occupied not by heavy, action-filled adventures, but instead, just vibes. Here at Double Feature Thursday, I try to celebrate films that tackle complicated subject matter, as well as low-stakes, low-brow films, that may dabble in complexity but never stray too far from stupid. The Stoner Cinema from a couple weeks ago reaffirmed my love for silly, inane plotless plots, and while I thought last week’s Parker Posey double feature would be similar, the films ended up being surprisingly, intensely dismal. The middle ground between the happy and the hapless, the auteur who effortlessly finds magic in the mundane, is Richard Linklater. I’ve explored mumblecore movies before with a set of Jim Jarmusch films, but Richard Linklater is the man who got me interested in this genre, and was one of the first filmmakers that I really admired. As someone who loves to talk and ramble and write too much, I enjoy his emphasis on dialogue and his focusing on small, specific moments. From School of Rock to the Before Sunrise series to Boyhood to A Scanner Darkly to Bernie to Me and Orson Welles, Linklater’s films, no matter the premise, have a lot to say. Even if they sometimes talk in circles. And I love that. Even though he’s technically from Houston, Linklater is just as much of an Austin institution as bats and live music. While many things have changed in this place, Richard Linklater’s early films will forever be a testament to the indescribable uniqueness of this city, and a time capsule of this ephemeral moment in history where no one knew how great Austin was. Dazed and Confused, the film he’s perhaps best known for, not only kickstarted the careers of many young actors (Matthew McConaguhey, Ben Affleck, and Milla Jovovich, just to name a few) but it captures the essence of Austin in such a sincere and funny way—in a way that has probably convinced far too many people to move here. This bustling tech town was once rather chill, eccentric, and artsy, and every film Linklater’s filmed here feels like a celebration of that old Austin I grew up with. His 1990 film Slacker, Linklater’s first ever full-length feature, was no different, and it was everything you could want from a Linklater film (and directly inspired Kevin Smith to become a filmmaker). From the moment this film begins it is instantly SO Linklater, as we witness a very young Richard hop into a cab and begin a conversation about life, death, and the possibilities of the two, with an uncaring, nonverbal cabbie. Hearing him meander about the little moments of life and how they’re actually quite big, hearing him make both literary and rock n roll references in the same sentence, just made me smile and think to myself: you’ll really have this figured out by the time you make Before Sunrise, Richard. As he exits the cab, he witnesses someone get hit by a car and tries to help, but we don’t see the end to this story. Instead, the Linklater behind the camera decides to take us on a different journey with someone who was just walking by. And that person’s story becomes someone else’s, as the camera follows yet another stranger. Each conversation, each interaction, each moment of the day may blend from one to the other, but they were all different. Well, not that different. There was a lot of existentialist, cynical, anarchistic, conspiracy-theorizing, and unfortunately, a plethora of mansplaining that I knew Linklater dabbled in, but had never seen this much of. Since 1990 Linklater has improved upon this, and eventually let his female characters blab just as much, but unfortunately, not much else seems to have changed since 1990. While every shot of Austin seemed nearly unrecognizable to what it is now, the conversations that occurred against this backdrop were quite similar to what we’re discussing today. Climate change, crooked or borderline criminal politics, racist cops, and other timely discussions filled up this whole film, along with a lot of other musings about the general unease and insanity of everyday life. It was fun to see old Austin, and this film is structured (or not structured) in an ideal way for storytellers with ADHD, because Slacker wasn’t necessarily concerned with completing a thought, it was just interested in any and all channels of thought. Even if those thoughts didn’t make any sense. Speaking of not making sense, let’s get into the next Linklater film of the night, a movie with just as much curiosity as Slacker, but none of the heart. Following the unexpectedly huge hit that was Dazed and Confused came his 1997 film SubUrbia, a movie with a more discernible plot line but no recognizable ethics. While the wandering nothingness of Slacker seemed to be brimming with excitement and possibilities, SubUrbia made it pretty clear early on that we’d be getting a different brand of nothingness. SubUrbia follows a group of lost, unambitious youths trapped in the confines of their small, suburban, Texas town—where one night, an old high school friend who’s found success and fame comes back to visit. Suddenly, the balance and the vibe is off for these kids, and our main protagonist Jeff (Giovanni Ribisi) is thrown especially out of whack. The entire film is filled with angst and cynicism and an abundance of fatalism that normally wouldn’t bother me, but here it just bummed me out. When Giovanni Ribisi said “It’s my duty as a human being to be pissed off”, I was like yeah! But before I knew it I was drowning in mopey men and their impossibly universal insecurities that they tried to pass off as different. Steve Zahn, in all of his bumbling, bodacious beauty, was the saving grace of this film, allowing the audience to let out a breath of relief and maybe even a laugh in between different monologues about malaise. If it hadn’t been for Parker Posey and my googling of her resume, this film would’ve never been on my radar, and if it hadn’t been for her and Steve Zahn, I might’ve turned this movie off before it ended. I am saying this as a lover, appreciator, and stan of Richard Linklater: this movie was bad. And not just in a, “meh, not for me” way, in an, “ughhhhhhhhhhhhhh” way. I’ve never come across this in any of his other films, but there was so much racism and misogyny in SubUrbia it was disturbing. To sum it up succinctly: SubUrbia was 50% cringe, and 50% depressing. At a certain point, during one of the many speeches about life being pointless, I was just like I GET IT. I’d like to think that many of Linklater’s films have a way of celebrating losers and weirdos, but I had no love for these losers and weirdos. If I wanted to hear headass conversations from privileged youth, I’d go back to college but I have a piece of paper that says that I don’t have to so instead I’m just gonna save us all the trouble, and advise you not to watch this movie. If you’re a fan of Richard Linklater, an Austin local, or just a fan of films with more vibes than plot, definitely check out Slacker, do everything you can to avoid SubUrbia, and everything will be alright alright alright.