blueaugust 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.

haroldnmaude I really enjoyed this little-known, low key movie.The story is very simple, with little drama or fanfare, it unwinds slowly, and will touch anyone who thought they were invisible or an outcast despairing of ever being loved.Evie Decker is a lonely young woman living with her loving, aloof widower father and Drum Casey is a lonely young man from an abusive, hateful father and apologetic mother, both decidedly lower class and an embarrassment to him.Evie becomes obsessed with Drum, carves his last name into her forehead, and her ardor seduces him - both seek love and find it with each other, although they're an unlikely pair.I really liked it, and Guy Pearce as Drum is beautiful with a seductive, smoky voice and you can see why Evie would fall in love with him.The ending is left to the viewer's imagination. When Evie gives Drum an ultimatum, does he return to her? It's unclear, and purposely so. When they ride off together, is he really in the car, or is he just "with" her in spirit? He mentions on the radio that the band is heading to Nashville, and she's sold the house and packed everything into the car.Either way, is it a happy ending? It's satisfying either way.

Rogue-32 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.

topdown-2 While off to a slow start, "A Slipping Down Life" eases into a intelligent story of how a relationship between a man and a woman soon becomes an experience worth telling. There is depth and insight into the character of Evie (Lili Taylor) and Drumstring Casey (Guy Pearce). They are both strong people in their own different ways. Evie approaches her relationship with Drum in a passionate and caring way. To convince him of her love she does something which most people would find childish and infantile. But no matter. To Evie she has professed her love for Drum in a way no other woman has.The movie takes us through the ups and downs of a relationship and the many influences and events that, if successfully handled, must ensure that the bond between two people will never be injured.Lili Taylor has given us a performance that will not soon be forgotten and Guy Pearce has added a dimension to his character which is a very viable indication of the wonderful actor he is.