Surface tension

A Slipping Down Life

(1999)

Less than the sum of its parts, though two of the parts are Lili Taylor and Guy Pearce, two of the most unobtrusively great actors of their generation. The problem is the story, based on a novel by Anne Tyler. Let me put it this way: the decision by Evie Decker to carve into her forehead the name of the oddball charismatic rock singer Drumstrings Casey (think lovechild of Springsteen and Zevon), whom she has barely met, is above the median in clear motivation for characters' behavior. Still, the leads--and John Hawkes as Drum's drummer and manager--make it worth a look, even if you decide, as I did, to deaccession it from your DVR's hard drive.