Memorable, crazy movie

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Don't listen to the negative reviews

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

From the title one might suppose that this is a horror movie that has something to do with snakes. It isn't. It is actually a very droll road movie about a search for the stashed proceeds of a crime committed some years earlier. In that sense, it may be compared with "It's a Mad, Mad World". However, while that earlier film represents an homage to the comedy style of the past, "Slither" is more of a preview of the comedy style of the future. In "Slither" the characters and more realistic, the comedy is less obvious, and the entire story seems to delight in going into directions that one would not necessarily expect. In fact, "Slither" seems like a prequel to the sort of movies made by the Coen Brothers such as "The Big Labowski", "Fargo" and "Oh Brother, Where art Thou?".James Can plays a small-time criminal who, along with another guy, has just been released from prison along. When his companion invites him home for a beer to celebrate their freedom he is suddenly shot through the window. The dying ex-con imparts to Caan instructions to recover the loot from his crime, setting in motion a chain of strange encounters and events, not the least of which involves a road trip in a car towing a house trailer. One can only presume that the title "Slither" was derived from the violent motions of the trailer during the course of the inevitable cross-country chase. On the occasion when the musical "Goodbye Mr. Chips" was presented in a command performance to Queen Elizabeth, Sally Kellerman reputedly said remarked that Her Majesty would probably have found "Slither" more entertaining. She was probably right.

Had long been curious about his movie-especially after first watching the beginning scene on YouTube-so I was ecstatic to finally check this out at my local library. James Caan is a recent parolee who encounters various people drifting down the road like Sally Kellerman when her car is temporarily out of commission or Peter Boyle who he has to meet concerning some money. Louise Lasser, Richard B. Shull, and Alex Rocco are among the supporting cast. I'll just now say that while there's some funny bits and lines, this was mostly played straight concerning characterization and plot. Yes, it meanders quite a bit but that's part of the movie's charm. So on that note, Slither is worth a look.

This was a rather awkward little movie to watch and I'm not sure what to think about this one. The movie is definitely supposed to be fun but it just isn't. I didn't realize this movie was supposed to be a comedy until the music kicked in, which was definitely comedy-style. The movie is made in a far too serious style.The movie could had worked out, if only the director was just a better one. It was Howard Zieff's first movie and this definitely shows on screen. Nothing flows well, the characters don't always work out and because of this all the movie also doesn't work out as it was supposed to. I guess that in its core the movie had some more potential but the execution of the mixture of styles works out unbalanced, with as a result a movie that hardly ever works out.James Caan still tried to make his character more interesting by portraying him as a sort of shy loser. Perhaps he did this because he wanted to do something totally different after his role in "The Godfather", which he had just completed before this movie. But I mean come on! James Caan is just not believable as a loser. He is far too cool looking for that, especially in the '70's he was.There isn't much to the story really. To me it seemed like a moder retelling of "Il Buono, il brutto, il cattivo", set in modern small-town USA. Problem is that there just isn't happening much interesting in the story at all. At points the movie could had really used some more pace and more exciting sequences with action in it.The movie mostly tries to be fun with its quirky characters that pop-up into the movie. It makes the movie fairly amusing and prevents it from being completely unwatchable but its all not good enough to make this movie a recommendable one either. It's just not a very funny movie. A movie that missed its mark completely but it luckily still has some redeeming qualities to save this movie from being a complete disaster.5/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Off-beat kooky film that's great with relaxed and funny performances from James Caan & Sally Kellerman in the leads. Howard Zieff also directed HEARTS OF THE WEST 3 years later (wonderful flick). Road flick, dangerous, great supporting cast including Peter Boyle (so great in JOE, TAXI DRIVER, and THE CANDIDATE and Louise Lasser - always interesting). From the opening with Richard B. Schull, James Caan is in a state of perpetual paranoia in the plains and it's like a Jonathan Demme film crossed with David Lynch with a touch of Woody Allen. An 8 out of 10. Best performance = Peter Boyle.Seek this little gem out if you're interested in hip 70's films that didn't make the bucks and really wasn't seen by many Americans. Terrific stuff with a laid-back yet keen sensibility.