Slipstream

According to the description on the back of the box, Slipstream is about an aging writer whose characters begin to appear in his real life, but without reading that synopsis there’s no way you’d figure that out just by watching the film. Written, directed and starring Sir Anthony Hopkins, Slipstream is a jumbled mess of half-formed ideas, incoherent dialogue and pseudo-artistic nonsense that is usually the domain of angst-ridden student filmmakers, not 70-year-old knighted Academy Award-winning actors. As the story shifts willy-nilly between semi-narratives, a cast of recognisable actors assume multiple roles in Hopkins’ distorted "dream within a dream”-style story. Christian Slater, Michael Clarke Duncan and John Tuturro are only a few of the famous faces you’ll recognise during the 96 minutes of confusion you’ll spend in front of the screen. Hopkins himself appears in all the various "streams,” though all his characters are afflicted by bumbling confusion and a tendency to speak lines like, "What? What’s going on?,” as if speaking for an audience who can only ask those questions to an unresponsive screen. Unfortunately, Mr. Hopkins’ questions are never answered, instead the plot shifts and reforms into something new and just as incomprehensible. In addition to the mess of plotlines, Slipstream’s visual style is a jarring mish-mash of quick cuts, non-sequitur overlays and perspective shifts that will quickly have you feeling dizzy. Feature-wise, Slipstream is thankfully sparse, with only a "making of” documentary and a run-of-the-mill commentary by Hopkins. Do yourself a favour and let Slipstream slip into whatever level of hell is reserved for failed artistic visions.