Slasher

I too saw this movie on IFC recently and was drawn in immediately, mostly because I've recently moved to Memphis. The "Slasher" is definitely the type of character you love to hate. A 24/7 drunk who's real high stems from his ego. Completely self-absorbed and so full of his own crap that he doesn't see the obvious disdain others have for him (dealership manager, his own DJ, etc). The fast-talking sleazeball versus the economically-challenged (and uneducated) masses. However there is no clear winner in my view because the masses are duped yet again and the lemon-pusher doesn't exactly get away with all the money. No Hollywoodized tragedy here, just the reality of the way things are in the used...ehem, "preowned"...car business. Buyer beware!

This is an unpleasant film to watch. It is about a "Slasher", a guy who goes in and stages huge sales at used car lots where they clear out all their backed-up inventory at slightly lower prices. The slasher brings in a DJ and his own sales force and the lot is extravagantly decorated with balloons and streamers and beautiful girls are hired to act as models for the weekend. It's kind of like a party.

In this case, director John Landis and his documentary crew follow Southern California Slasher Michael Bennett (and his crew) to a used car lot in Memphis, TN where they ready the lot for the sale and get pumped up to try and sell at least 50 cars so they can win their bonus. In between, they spend a lot of time drinking beer, smoking, hanging out at strip clubs and looking generally unhappy.

It's sad and gut-wrenching. You can't help but feel for Michael Bennett. You certainly feel how much he cares for his family but it's also clear what a skin-scraping profession he is locked into. You also feel the horrible tension between him and his DJ, especially in an argument they have at the end (about the best way to get to the airport!!) that nearly erupts into a fist fight. Bennett drinks almost constantly and you can see the wear and tear on him.

What's doubly horrific is watching the Slasher rip off honest people who have come in to try and buy a car and then are bullied into a buying a total lemon. You come away feeling awful for everyone in the entire movie. Also, the pacing (lots of jump cuts and lively Memphis soul) doesn't really reflect the gravitas and misery that's captured on the screen. I think it was assembled in kind of a slap-dash fashion. Maybe the director thought he was filming something more fun than he actually was.

The one oasis of sanity in the whole affair turns out to be "Mud", Slasher's mercenary closer. A towering, militaristic figure, Mud at first comes off as unsympathetic but is ultimately revealed to be a shrewd thinker and devoted family man. He also gives the film its one true moment of levity as he describes (with great humor) how it was only after his wife "kicked his ass" did he realize she was the one he was going to marry.

Michael Bennett, the titular character in John Landis' documentary, is a free-lance car salesman who travels the country helping car dealerships boost their sales on particular weekends by, you guessed it, slashing prices.

Apparently Bennett's very good at this and he puts on a carnival barker-like show that is in turns funny, hectic, tiring and obnoxious. Watching Bennett do his shtick exhausts the viewer because this chap runs like a fast-paced motor without an off-switch.

The problem is Landis films just one weekend in Bennett's life - when the "Slasher" travels to a dealership in Memphis, Tenn., "the bankruptcy capital of the world." In an interview on IFC, Landis said he initially planned to make a documentary about the effects of President Bush's economic policies, but wound up going in a different direction when he met Bennett.

Landis lets us peek at some of the inner workings of Bennett and his two friends - a DJ and a "mercenary" salesman. We get to see them work the crowd, as well as hear their asides when interviewing young women for the weekend gig (some of their comments are a bit cruel) and reacting to customers' comments (we see how they manipulate customers).

But as engaging as Bennett is - a wound-up beer-guzzling machine who also is a loving husband and father - a little bit of him goes a long way, a very long way. If Landis wanted to capture one weekend in Bennett's life, a documentary short would have sufficed.

For a feature, we need to see more, not more of the same thing, which is what we get here. Landis should have spent more time with Bennett's wife, who sees her husband two days a week. We see only a few snippets of Bennett with his family and it would have made for great cinema. Also, seeing whether Bennett changed from city to city, whether his routine varied depending on the economic and geographic conditions of the area, would have made for a better story.

And two crucial questions Landis does not even raise, much less answer, are how did Bennett get into this business and why does he do it? Yes, the money's great, but is there something else that draws Bennett to do this, to be away from his family for five days per week, especially when he says he'd like to be home with them? We never find out what attracts Bennett to this job.

Although it runs under 90 minutes, "Slasher" seems like it's about 30 minutes too long. Many scenes seem redundant and at the end of the film we don't know much more about Bennett than we did in the first few minutes. It's still worth a look, though.

How this guy got a documentary team to follow him around I'll have no idea. This character was one of the hardest to watch that I've across in a long time. Alcoholics are depressing to watch, hyperactive people are just frustrating. But a hyperactive alcoholic? C'mon... the guy was hanging off the back of the driver's seat right from the beginning, and was obviously on more than just the beers he had for breakfast. Throughout the entire film Michael Bennett looked like a crystal meth addict who had gone without his fix for far too long.

For me, this was a very depressing show to watch. It basically documented the down-and-out ripping off the have-nots. It was sad to watch he had a family and a wife. People like this, in neighborhoods like this, behaving this way, and the intelligence levels of basically everyone on camera from beginning to end (except his poor family), give a glimpse of the possible tragic future awaiting America.

This is a documentary of an American city falling apart at the seams.

Excellent documentary dealing with a almost likable used car pitchman, his sidekick Mud, a glum disk jockey, and a host of car salesmen. I refuse to buy a car from a lot just because of the phony "smiling faces" which were represented here in abundance. These salesmen all were adept at saying one thing while plotting how to run a game on the buyer. A game in which the dice were loaded heavily in favor of the dealership, of course. The Slasher claimed he never lies to a buyer, yet in reality the entire shell game he is running is based on a layer cake of sweet sounding half truths, deceptive number crunching, and a sham facade of glib friendliness hiding a hideous mask of evil greed. It was sad to see easily swayed folks wanting to believe they were getting a good car for $88, but what may have been even more grievous was the toll on the Slasher himself; not to mention his cronies. One simply cannot build a fruitful life leading into a pleasant future while deceiving not only his customers but himself with shady business practices. I feel that goes doubly for the "dollar is God" money men who hired this hyperactive, miserably unhappy 'whore' to do the dirty work they were unable to do themselves.