A Slipping-Down Life

R

Released Jan 22, 1999

1 hr. 51 min.

Drama

List

27%

63 Reviews

Tomatometer

44%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

"Drumstrings" Casey (Guy Pearce) is an aspiring rock musician, though he hasn't had much success so far. Evie Decker (Lili Taylor) is likewise searching for direction and meaning. She works at an amusement park by day and at night bides her time alongside her troubled father. Between the two, Evie might be the more emotionally disturbed, as evidenced by how obsessed she becomes with Casey -- going so far as to carve his name across her forehead. They get married, but can their love last?

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Critics Consensus

Lili Talyor is the best thing in this uninvolving and unconvincing drama.

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Audience Member

Godawful. If you're going to make a movie about disturbed people, how about making them - or at least the story - interesting??

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

Full Review

Audience Member

never gains momentum,just fair,nothing stands out.not worth recommending to anyone.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

Full Review

Audience Member

What at first seems like observed, exaggerated truth soon reveals itself as a series of writerly conceits being followed doggedly to some logical conclusion.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

Full Review

Audience Member

(***): [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon14.gif[/img] Lili Taylor and Guy Pearce are great here. An interesting movie.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/18/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The leads are attractive but the film goes nowhere.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/04/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I chose this movie because I love Lili Taylor and I liked Guy Pearce in Memento. It is definitely a 90s movie, and as such is probably a little less interesting today than it was in 1999. I liked it because the main character (Taylor) is honest, forthright, and true to her values and decisions (however odd they may be.) In a society of grungy followers, Evie needs only her own approval to feel whole with herself and right with her decisions.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/15/23

Full Review

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Toni Kalem

Director

Lili Taylor

Evie Decker

Guy Pearce

Drumstrings Casey

John Hawkes

David Elliot

Sara Rue

Violet

Irma P. Hall

Clotelia

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Marjorie Baumgarten

Austin Chronicle

Has a lot going for it, but not nearly all it should have.

Rated: 2/5

Jun 12, 2004

Full Review

Tom Long

Detroit News

It's interesting, not fascinating, intriguing, not electrifying. But for those in the mood for an offbeat pleasure, A Slipping Down Life may well satisfy.

Rated: B

Jun 4, 2004

Full Review

Terry Lawson

Detroit Free Press

Never cuts much deeper than its subject.

Rated: 2/4

Jun 4, 2004

Full Review

Cole Smithey

ColeSmithey.com

Crap.

Rated: 0/5

Jun 30, 2008

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

The two stars were not right for the parts.

Rated: C

May 21, 2005

Full Review

Walter Chaw

Film Freak Central

If not entirely successful, at least ambitious and, for a long while, even brave.

Rated: 2.5/4

Mar 14, 2005

Full Review

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Synopsis

"Drumstrings" Casey (Guy Pearce) is an aspiring rock musician, though he hasn't had much success so far. Evie Decker (Lili Taylor) is likewise searching for direction and meaning. She works at an amusement park by day and at night bides her time alongside her troubled father. Between the two, Evie might be the more emotionally disturbed, as evidenced by how obsessed she becomes with Casey -- going so far as to carve his name across her forehead. They get married, but can their love last?

Director: Toni Kalem
Screenwriter: Toni Kalem, Anne Tyler
Distributor: Lionsgate Films
Production Co: DVC Entertainment
Rating: R (Language|Sexual References)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 22, 1999, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 16, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $95.4K
Sound Mix: Surround

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