A Slipping Down Life

Based on Anne Tyler's novel, Toni Kalem's A Slipping Down Life (which sat on the shelf for five years before finding a theatrical release) tells the story of Evie Decker (Lili Taylor), an introverted small-town girl who becomes obsessed with a Jim Morrison-like singer/songwriter named Drumstrings Casey (Guy Pearce) to the point of carving his name ("Casey") on her forehead--backwards so that she can read it in the mirror. As a result of this stunt, Evie meets her idol and forms a strange relationship with him. While the story is full of intriguing images--the rabbit suit Evie wears during her day job at a kiddie amusement park, for instance--the film awkwardly straddles realistic and dreamlike approaches, ultimately succeeding at neither. As for the characters, Evie is so shy and quiet that she might be mentally ill, and Casey is so broodingly distant that he fails to generate any real chemistry with her (although Taylor and Pearce are both good enough actors that they make the most of their material). Not a necessary purchase. (J.M. Anderson)