My first thoughts, as I watched this movie were, Anthony Hopkins, what were you thinking and what drugs were you on when you wrote, directed and cast yourself in the leading role of Felix Honhoeffer, a Hollywood screenwriter getting a bit on in years.

But, as the film progressed, I thought I might be getting it, the story Hopkins was trying to convey though, to tell you the truth, it was difficult just getting to that point.

There was so much going on in this film Slipstream from the moment it begins to the final scene. I looked up the word Slipstream and came up with an explanation by a cyberpunk author, Bruce Sterling, who wrote, "this is a kind of writing which simply makes you feel strange, the way living in the twentieth century makes you feel, if you are a person of a certain sensibility"…well, sensibility or not, this movie really made me feel strange… Another quote I found, described Slipstream as a "kind of fantastic or non-realistic fiction that crosses conventional genre boundaries between science fiction/fantasy or mainstream literary fiction." That made a bit of sense to me and helped me understand what I had just seen in this strange film.

Slipstream certainly crossed many boundaries as it moved from what was going on in the present to what had happened in the past as if slipping from dreams to reality. It was very hard to follow and that is my biggest complaint. Was what I was watching going on in real life? I continually wondered or were these actions just going on in Honhoeffers head? Those are the big questions, is it real or an illusion? As I watched I realized that the stories seemed to be a dream within a dream focusing on the absurdities of a persons existence and just how random life really is depending on where you are at any precise moment. And what happens when real life and those dreams come together?

Hopkins played this role with a quizzical expression on his face for most of the film as if even he didn't know the answers. Not his best performance, I must say. He was probably to busy wearing all his other hats as director and writer to pay attention to his acting.

One of the main scenes, which turned out to be a movie being filmed, was quite interesting in a very bizarre way; a roadside diner where the characters change as you watched, Christian Slater, (Matt Dobbs/Ray) and Jeffrey Tambor ,(Geek/Margolis ), enter a roadside diner, where we had just been introduced to those who worked there and a few other people, who were there to eat…Those characters all are woven into this very strange tapestry of a story even before we see them in the diner. As the scene progresses Slater and Tambors personalities start to change until, all at once, we realize, as do those in the diner, that they are both quite a bit out of their minds and the story shifts once again. When Ray has a complete meltdown, the movie making comes to a halt and it is then we are given the knowledge that this is a film-set. Aha, this does explain some of the insanity we have just seen.

Things go downhill from there as to the film being made and we meet all the eccentric movie makers behind the scenes… Felix is called in to the set to change the script which he had written. Felix arrives with his companion Tracy who is into all sorts of New Age philosophy and his chauffeur Aaron, who it turns out, is really a symbol of destiny. But Felix has a hard time separating what is going on in the real world and what is going on in his head. These thoughts, dreams, or whatever, are all a colliding or should I say slipping, together. What he has written in the script, the characters, all seem to show up in his "reality" and he just can't get a handle of what is real or fantasy. He's fixated on old films too, The Invasion of the Body Snatchers for one and its star, Kevin McCarthy shows up, a movie mentioned earlier by Ray before he went bonkers in the diner.

The film seems to take a look at the movie industry and just how it takes itself so seriously as Felix tries to sort things out but just gets more caught up in his own mind bending reality or, is it fantasy? Or, is everything just really going on in his mind? He doesn't know for sure and the people we meet along the way do not know either. We, in the audience certainly do not know.

Then there is a big reveal, one I won't write here in case you actually decide to see this movie but, from that moment on, we are privy to what has happened and why. Well, somewhat.

Was it worthwhile sitting through Slipstream to finally get to the end? My hubby didn't think so since he gave up watching after the first half hour, I, on the other hand, stayed with it, hoping that a conclusion would be explanatory and somewhat satisfying. My verdict, it was OK, not great by any means but yes, there did seem to be reason for all the strange goings on and the reason so many good actors appeared in the film, other then the fact that "Sir" Anthony Hopkins was the creator of the movie. There was a message about mortality which can't be denied but it certainly was quite a road to take to get to that place… for that reason I am just giving the movie 2 ½ stars and recommend it only to those die-hard Hopkins fans or those who enjoy a complex and very bizarre film or who like to watch movies that, as the cover of the DVD states are a, "Brave Cinematic Experiment"…

Special features:
Commentary by Anthony Hopkins
Dreaming Slipstream--the making of featurette--- *watching this gave me a little more insight as to what I had just seen.*
Deleted scenes
Previews

Running Time:
96 mins

Cast:
Anthony Hopkins - Felix Bonhoeffer
Christian Slater - Matt Dobbs/Ray
Michael Clarke Duncan - Mort
Jeffrey Tambor - Geek/Margolis
Fionnula Flanagan - Bette Lustig
Christopher Lawford - Lars
Gavin Grazer - Gavin/Paramedic
Lana Antonova - Lilly
Aaron Tucker- Chauffeur
Stella Arroyave - Gina
John Turturro - Harvey
Camryn Manheim - Barbara
S. Epatha Merkerson - Bonnie Sylvester
Gene Borkan - Mel/Shel
Lisa Pepper - Tracy
Kevin McCarthy - Himself

Director:
Anthony Hopkins
Writer:
Anthony Hopkins
Producers:
Anthony Hopkins, Robert Katz, Stella Arroyave

Rating:
R (Profanity, Violence)


Since Sir Anthony Hopkins is so very British I'm adding this review to my French/British write-off to be found here..

Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older