A Slipping-Down Life

This film is an absolute gem. It was filmed in and around Austin, and I didn't even know it until I saw the landscape. Not to mention the cameo of our former mayor Kirk Watson!

What can be said about Lili Taylor that hasn't been better said by superior raters? She's simply amazing as Evie. I've read other reviews that claim she was too old for the part and I completely disagree. She brings a clear and clean strength to this role that was absolutely required for the part to shine as it did. She just simply glowed through the movie like a firefly. Guy Pearce made this viewer fall in love with him the way Drumstrings made Evie fall in love.

Evie's relationship with her father was warm and touching. Her soul is so strong yet so fragile because of it's capacity to love that at one point I caught myself saying to the screen, "Don't break her heart. Please don't break her heart". This movie is a special treasure.

Sort of warmed-over grits -- containing every trite character and expression that inhabits "Southern" storytelling down through O'Connor, Welty, Flagg, etc. None of the parts is more than one stereotype after another.

Therefore, the viewer is compelled to observe by contrast any small feature that redeems the larger picture. In this instance there is one that stands out: the versatility of actor Guy Pearce playing a weak, indecisive, and mushy musician whose impact lies solely in how he how he takes on an impossible role and somehow brings it to life.

How this Australian actor can master such a wide variety of theatrical work is something of a mystery to me. Lacking the "star" quality of such countrymen as Crowe and Gibson, he nevertheless steals every scene of every picture I have seen in which he appears, from "Priscilla" to "L.A. Confidential" to "Memento." Very impressive indeed. Worth watching this otherwise drab film.

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.

"A Slipping Down Life" was originally released at the Sundance Film Festival in 1999, but because of "creative differences" between the producers and the director/actors, it never was released...until now.

Lion's Gate Films now owns the distribution rights. The film premieres in NY and LA on May 14th (elsewhere across the United States in late May/early June).

I saw the movie last month at the Phoenix Film Festival. Toni Kalem, the director, was present, and she conducted a Q&A session with the audience after the showing. One of the common topics during this discussion was related to the differences between the book and the movie.

While I haven't read it, it appeared that the die-hard fans of the book were totally drawn in and satisfied with the movie (and Anne Tyler, herself, gave her "official approval" to Toni Kalem's screen play adaption).

Lili Taylor is absolutely brilliant in this movie, and Guy Pearce offers a performance you might not expect.

Finally, before heading out to see this, make a point to grab a box of Kleenex - I found myself in tears more than a few times.

Guy Pearce could have a career as a singer based upon what he does in this movie - the vocals he performs as "Drumstrings Casey" are phenomenal - and the always-brilliant Lili Taylor turns in another beautifully realized, multi-layered portrayal as Evie Decker, the film's center. What I liked most was how she wasn't a groupie or a pushover but rather a 3-dimensional person with a strong mind, and I liked how Pearce's character slowly came to realize that he needed her. Ideally, this should have been an overwhelmingly compelling film but it suffers from a weird kind of vagueness, which could have worked for the material but instead it pulls us away from it, so the ending isn't as satisfying as it could have been. Still worth catching on cable nonetheless, for the two brilliant central performances.