Slippery Slope (2006)

User Rating:

4.6/10   

Director:

Sarah Schenck

Writer:

Sarah Schenck (writer)

Release Date:

2006 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

a sexy comedy about an uptight young feminist filmmaker that secretly takes a job directing adult films to raise funds for her documentary.

Cast

Kelly Hutchinson	...	Gillian Black
Jim True-Frost	...	Hugh Winston
Laila Robins	...	Michaela Stark
Wes Ramsey	...	Martin Breedlove
Leslie Lyles	...	Judy Black
Yolonda Ross	...	Ginger
Brian Letscher	...	Chad
Jerry Grayson	...	Billy Gilmore
Geoffrey Nauffts	...	Wilhelm
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lucas Akoskin	...	Franco Lupy
Theodore Bouloukos	...	French Director
Pamela Burrell	...	Female Academic
Helen Coxe	...	Liz
James Doerr	...	Dick Black
Danielle Ferland	...	Kevin
Dan Fogler	...	Crafty
Patrick Hall	...	Business Man
John Francis Hebert	...	Drunk Jock
Richmond Hoxie	...	Crocker Winston
Matt Jade	...	Central Park Hat Man
Poppi Kramer	...	Leisha
Matthew Lawler	...	Hoolie
Jessica Leccia	...	Stacy
Leif Maginnis	...	Subway rider
Marty McDonough	...	Older Man
Laith Nakli	...	Burly man
Audrie J. Neenan	...	Floozy
Devin Ratray	...	Lab Assistant
Adam Scorgie	...	Guy making out with girl (scenes deleted)
Robert Sella	...	Sergei Soranus
Thomas Michael Sullivan	...	Waiter
George Young Warner	...	Busboy
Diane Ingino	...	Businesswoman (uncredited)

Directed by
Sarah Schenck

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Sarah Schenck		writer

Produced by
Lynn Appelle	....	producer
John Finley	....	producer
Steve Garfinkel	....	associate producer
Nancy Hamada	....	producer
Sam Pai	....	producer
Scott D. Rosenbaum	....	associate producer
Tyagi Schwartz	....	associate producer
Sabrina Tubio-Cid	....	producer

Cinematography by
Wolfgang Held

Film Editing by
William Henry
Savvas Paritsis

Casting by
John Mabry
Dani Super

Production Design by
Tora Peterson

Art Direction by
Ipek Celik

Costume Design by
Sandra Alexandra
Sandra Alexandre

Makeup Department
Steve Costanza	....	key makeup artist
Ande Yung	....	assistant makeup artist

Production Management
Cassandra Johnson	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
A. Arthur Howard	....	assistant director
Zachary May	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Jimena Azula	....	set dresser
Amanda Bonavita	....	property master
Devin Febbroriello	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Ryan Collison	....	foley engineer
Richard King	....	supervising sound editor
Damian Panitz	....	foley editor

Special Effects by
Brian Haimes	....	stop motion animation

Camera and Electrical Department
Chris Aran	....	key grip
Boris Cifuentes	....	electrician
Rebecca Davis	....	camera production assistant
Wilson Green	....	swing grip
David Isern	....	Steadicam operator
Kate Larose	....	second assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Michael Bevins	....	costume designer: fantasy costumes

Editorial Department
Kiersten Harter	....	associate editor

Other crew
Katri Billard	....	script supervisor
Will Greenfield	....	production assistant
Lisa M. Mundy	....	production coordinator
Polly Pence	....	assistant location manager

Production Companies

• Fresh Films LLC

Distributors

• Lifesize Entertainment (2008) (worldwide) (all media)

Other Companies

• Postworks New York  post-production facilities
• Smooth Moving Productions  Steadicam equipment provided by
• Sound One  sound post-production
• Xeno Lights  grip and lighting equipment

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Filming Locations:

Long Island, New York, USA

Company:

Fresh Films LLC

when sex and brains really do mix...

"Slippery Slope" is a rarity among films these days: a totally character- and story-driven exercise in cinematic understanding of human nature and the unfathomable forces that compel human beings to both deceive and trust one another, often at the same time. Everything about it clicks: the script, the dialogue, the sets, the affectionate, careful development of each character no matter how minor, and the sense of delight it conveys at adding a brave new element to the discussion of female empowerment and pornography, which as "Slippery Slope" conveys with wit and depth, are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Not anymore, anyway, and certainly not after viewing director and writer Sarah Schenck's gem of a film. Schenck's attention to detail is note-perfect and provides many moments of recognition and laughter, from the scrubbed-off remnants of one of those dreaded yellow parking stickers on the car of the husband, marvelously portrayed by Jim True-Frost, as he drives off to confront his wife whom he suspects of conducting an affair at a Long Island motel but who in reality is directing a porn movie she doesn't want him to know about, to the made-up names of the "classics" she has re-worked to make them palatable for porn audiences, in which Shakespeare's "Tempest" becomes "The Temptress" and Dickens' "Hard Times" becomes "Really Hard Times." In particular, the delineation of Gillian, the female protagonist, resonates powerfully as she evolves from a struggling, out-of-work auteur into a more liberated, honest, loving (and solvent) version of herself. Even the title of the film's primary device, "Feminism For Dummies," a film she has completed but cannot retrieve from the lab because she lacks the funds to pay for it, is a double-edged entendre with multiple layers of meaning that Schenck is wise enough to leave open to interpretation by her viewers. She does not play down to her audience even though the subject matter itself may seem to call out for such condescension, but rather uses her talents to explore the tensions inherent in the many situations that arise as a result of Gillian's double life and the deception she perpetrates on her husband out of - shame? Respect for his "purity"? Artistic duplicity? All are elements shaping her decision to enter the strange, staged world of pornography, but Schenck leaves it up to the audience to decide which ones matter and which don't, a mark of esteem for her viewers woefully lacking in too many modern filmmakers' "hit-'em-over-the-head-with-a-sledgehammer" school of cinematic indulgence. My lone criticism of "Slippery Slope" stems not from any significant component of its script, direction, or production values, but from one scene and one scene only that takes place on a New York street when Gillian, serendipitously encounters an actor who appeared in her documentary but has since shifted over to the less reputable but more remunerative realm of pornography (and New York pornography at that, which has its own unique sensibilities setting it apart from L.A. pornography, as any New Yorker knows...) The dialogue during this scene is unfortunately drowned out by the verities of New York street noise, and it was difficult to make out what was being said by the actors as they walk down the sidewalk discussing the way their lives have changed, or not, since the completion of "Feminism For Dummies." (One of my favorite exchanges in the movie occurs during this scene and happily, I caught it: "...Porn makes ten billion bucks a year, same as Hollywood." Reply: "That just says there's a big audience for showing women as nothing more than a support system for a vagina and breasts.")

There are no conflagrations other than those of the emotional kind; no car chases other than when the husband roars off in his dilapidated clunker to "catch" his wife in the act; no special effects except for a sweet, funny scene that uses plastic dolls to represent the action in the porn film she is writing - on a deadline, no less! - and no loud, obtrusive soundtrack to distract viewers from the important elements that make this film so special and unique. There is only a great story, fabulous script, authentic acting (and don't think "acting" the part of a porn actor doesn't require its own special skill set, which the four "porn" actors all employ wonderfully,) a delightful surprise ending, and an overarching message that in Schenck's more than capable hands, becomes a path to both enlightenment and hilarity.