A
Slipping Down Life popped-up at Sundance in 1999. The debut baby of actress-turned-director
Toni Kalem - an adaptation of a 1969 Anne Tyler novel about an unlikely love-relationship
that takes root between a diffident and backward wallflower (Lili Taylor) and
a local singer-songwriter/barroom poet (Guy Pierce) The story takes place in a
small town somewhere in the south and somewhere between 1970 and the present.
Though the two leads do their best with this tepid character study, much of the
movie reminded me of listening to someone who’s playing a guitar that’s
just slightly out of tune.
Evie
(Lili Taylor) lives a simple, unsatisfying and unfocused life, working a degrading
job at a children’s theme park “Kiddie Acres,” as a hot-dog vending
bunny. She lives with her widowed father, (his wife died while giving birth to
Evie), who soldiers through his days like a cross between Dennis Hopper (circa
Hoosiers) and Harry Dean Stanton. As for Guy Pierce, it’s obvious throughout
the film that he’s a real-life musician and strikes an impressive figure
of a front-man with his long hair and whiskers. His Bertram “Drumstrings”
Casey is one of those hard-headed visionaries whom, despite his talent is obviously
not long for the business.
His
rather unpopular inclination to wax extemporaneous between and during songs (ala
Jim Morrison) does not find many kindred ears in the bars of the south and hence
he squanders his one big break in Nashville by talking too much and singing too
little. Peter Himmelman is responsible for the songs that “Drum” writes,
which are good enough to pass for real. Somehow though, these basic folky blues
tunes speak to Evie in such a profound (let’s cast-off the shackles of this
small town) way that she is moved to take a knife and carve CASEY in big, backwards
letters on her forehead.
Drum’s
manager/drummer seizes this opportunity for publicity, alerting the media and
prevailing upon Evie to sit front row at the band’s shows at the local roadhouse
“the Unicorn.” Grudgingly at first, Drum acknowledges Evie’s shaky
genuflection and the two begin to fall into something of rocky relationship. Drum’s
disinclination to pander to the trailer-trash patrons that he could sort through,
leaves Evie at least a realistic love interest for the eccentric poet. Similarly
her initial rejection by him has placed her in the coveted hard-to-get now upper-hand
position between the two and thus they begin an awkward and old-fashioned type
of courtship.
There
are moments when these two very gifted actors breathe sufficient life into these
scenes to charm them up enough to enjoy, but their sudden and poorly executed
nuptials and paint-by-numbers wedding night choreography is all too predictable.
Having sworn off his musical aspirations in favor of wedded bliss, it isn’t
long before Drum feels the itch, and though Vie declares her support of him pursuing
music, it soon becomes a bone of contention in their marriage. This coupled with
a circumstantial misunderstanding finds the kids on the outs and what finally
becomes of them I’ll never tell, because it’s just interesting enough
a movie that I wouldn’t want to ruin it for those who are big enough fans
of Taylor and Pierce to check it out some night. There’s no shame in that.
I
should also point out that another film adaptation of an Anne Tyler book is one
of my all time favorite films. Some of you may remember The Accidental Tourist?
