Slipstream
Slipstream Image
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Metascore
47 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 14 Critics What's this?

User Score
4.0 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 7 Ratings

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  • Summary: This project attracted a renowned ensemble cast and crew. It also boasted an outstanding combined total of more than 70 esteemed awards and accolades, as well as over 200 nominations. Pushing the boundaries between fiction and fantasy, Slipstream is about the implosion of a man's mind. The film unfolds in a dreamlike, nonlinear, stream-of-consciousness style of storytelling with a surreal tale of one man's journey. Felix Bonhoeffer (Hopkins) is an actor/screenwriter who has lived his life in two states of existence: reality and his own interior world. While working on a murder-mystery screenplay, Felix becomes baffled as his characters start appearing in his life and his life starts slipping into his characters. Unaware that his brain is on the verge of implosion, Bonhoeffer is thrown into a vortex where his dreams, time, and reality collide. As Felix enters an increasingly whirling slipstream, he soon discovers that life is random and fortune is sightless. (Strand Releasing)… Expand
  • Director: Anthony Hopkins
  • Genre(s): Sci-Fi, Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Fantasy, Comedy
  • Rating: R
  • Runtime: 96 min
  • More Details and Credits »

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 14
  3. Negative: 2 out of 14
  1. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    75
    Now is Slipstream worth seeing? I think so, if you'll actively engage your sympathy with Hopkins' attempt to do something tricky and difficult. If you want to lie back and let the movie come to you, you may be lying there a long time.
  2. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Maitland McDonagh
    50
    If not exactly dull, Hopkins' stream-of-consciousness rant is nonetheless self-indulgent and crammed with bits of business that never add up to anything much.
  3. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Sid Smith
    50
    Bold, experimental, off-the-wall kicky and utterly exasperating.
  4. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Noel Murray
    33
    The result is either one of the most self-indulgent vanity projects in the history of the Hollywood star system, or a rare revealing look at a distinguished actor who usually keeps his real self out of the spotlight.

See all 14 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 4
  3. Negative: 3 out of 4
  1. ChadS.
    7
    Five minutes into...hell, let's be honest here; thirty-seven seconds into "Slipstream", I was lost. I had to consult my Oxford Concise English Dictionary to look up the word "slipstream". According to the OED, "slipstream" is defined as "an assisting force regarded as drawing something along with or behind something else." That helps explain the seemingly arbitrary flashbacks that are hurled at the viewer in abundance, in places where no filmmaker has ever placed them before. Then there are the jump cuts, the off-kilter music cues, the lack of continuity, the external noise on the soundtrack, the Russian formalist style of editing, etc., etc., etc. "Slipstream" has the look and feel of a collaboration between Jean-Luc Goddard and David Lynch. It's art film damage. "Slipstream" makes both "Pierrot le fou" and "Mulholland Drive" seem less ardurous to sit through by comparison. Actor-turned-director Anthony Hopkins made a film that no ordinary person would want to sit through. Good for him. Who knew he had it in him to be a confrontational artist? "Slipstream" has the look and feel of a young man's movie. He's 71, folks. But then, in the final act, he shows his age; the funhouse thrill of disorientation wears out; the film's nonsensical presentation starts to make sense; all the looking glasses in the hall of mirrors are cracked except one. Unlike the work of Lynch, in which story particulars are open for debate, "Slipstream", decidedly slips off its French skin and walks around like an American during the home stretch. From dadaism to didacticism; the filmmaker makes the mistake of being too tidy, especially so during the end credits.… Expand
  2. aryanrule
    3
    Cant say much. I cannot believe that such great man as Hopkins could do such twisted and sick movie. U need to be very focused to stay tuned with the fabula, and even then u are still questioning yourself what exactly are u watching. Only 3 stars for this, though i could give him 10 stars for composing music.… Expand
  3. MikeSolis
    0
    Do not even bother watching this movie, what a waste of time, it is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. I would rather watch a turtle race than this. I wanted to understand what was the thinking behind it so I saw the special features making of segment and they were comparing this movie to movies made by Federico Fellini and Ingmar Bergman what a joke...… Expand
  4. CurtisS.
    0
    This is the first zero rating I've ever given to a movie. What an utter piece of confused noisy trash this film is. Random visual and auditory interference scattered abundantly throughout, after about 15 minutes, I could watch no more. I think it qualifies as "unwatchable." The entire movie, according to others estimations of it on metacritic,com, is a bunch of confusion: real and fictional elements of an older (dying) man as his life flashes before him. This strongly seems like the experimental work of a first year, self-indulgent film student who wanted to bring one of his sleep-dreams to life, with absolutely no consideration for the audience's enjoyment or understanding. I think the relatively high rating of 7, by consumers and pro critics is due to some misplaced allegiance to Anthony Hopkins, (obviously a great actor in other films), who wrote, directed and comatosely "starred" in this embarrassment. Even he called it "a joke" at a screening. Please, Mr. Hopkins, stick to acting, or at least have a story if you decide to give it another go at directing, To sit for an hour and a half only to find out that the unpleasant mish-mash you've just endured is the fractured percepton of a dying man is a complete disappointment. It's like someone had played a cruel trick on you and wasted an hour and a half of your life. Not, funny, Mr. Hopkins.… Expand

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