''Slipstream'' is a 2007 American film starring, written, scored, and directed by

Anthony Hopkins Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor, director, and producer. One of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins has received many accolad ...

, which explores the premise of a screenwriter who is caught in a

slipstream A slipstream is a region behind a moving object in which a wake of fluid (typically air or mustard) is moving at velocities comparable to that of the moving fluid, relative to the ambient fluid through which the object is churning. The term sli ...

of time, memories, fantasy and reality. The film co-stars and was produced by Hopkins' wife Stella Arroyave, who also plays his wife. The film premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. Hopkins composed the music for the film, while British composer

Harry Gregson-Williams Harry Gregson-Williams (born 13 December 1961) is a British composer, conductor, orchestrator, and record producer. He has composed music for video games, television and films including the ''Metal Gear'' series, '' Spy Game'', ''Phone Booth'' ...

scored and produced it.

Cast

as Felix Bonhoeffer * Stella Arroyave as Gina Bonhoeffer *

Christian Slater Christian Michael Leonard Slater (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor and producer. He made his film debut with a leading role in ''The Legend of Billie Jean'' (1985) and gained wider recognition for his breakthrough role as Jason "J.D." D ...

as Ray / Matt Dodds / Patrolman #2 *

John Turturro John Michael Turturro (; born February 28, 1957) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his contributions to the independent film movement. He has appeared in over sixty feature films and has worked frequently with the Coen brothers, ...

as Harvey Brickman * Camryn Manheim as Barbara *

Jeffrey Tambor Jeffrey Michael Tambor (born July 8, 1944) is an American actor. He is known for his television roles such as Jeffrey Brookes, the uptight neighbor of Stanley and Helen Roper in the television sitcom ''The Ropers'' (1979–1980), as Hank Kings ...

as Geek / Jeffrey / Dr. Geekman *

S. Epatha Merkerson Sharon Epatha Merkerson (born November 28, 1952) is a film, stage, and television actor. Known by her stage name S. Epatha Merkerson, she has received numerous high-profile accolades for her work, including an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a ...

as Bonnie *

Fionnula Flanagan Fionnghuala Manon "Fionnula" Flanagan (born 10 December 1941) is an Irish stage, television, and film actress. For her contributions to the entertainment industry, she was given the IFTA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. Flanagan is known fo ...

as Bette Lustig * Christopher Lawford as Lars * Michael Clarke Duncan as Mort / Phil * Lisa Pepper as Tracy * Kevin McCarthy as himself * Jana Grazer as herself * Gavin Grazer as himself * Aaron Tucker as Chauffeur / Aaron * Lana Antonova as Lily *

William Lucking William Lucking (June 17, 1941 – October 18, 2021) was an American film, television, and stage actor, best known for his role as Piney Winston in '' Sons of Anarchy'' (2008–2011), and for his movie roles in ''The Magnificent Seven Ride!'' ( ...

as Detective Buzz Larabee *

Saginaw Grant Saginaw Morgan Grant (July 20, 1936 – July 27, 2021) was a Native American character actor. He appeared in '' The Lone Ranger'', '' The World's Fastest Indian'', ''Community'', and ''Breaking Bad'' and was a musician, pow wow dancer, motivatio ...

as Eddie

Production

Actor

first wrote the script for ''Slipstream'' for fun, saying, "I had no idea where it was going. It just kept evolving on itself. I always wanted to poke fun at the movie business and the acting profession – they take themselves so seriously. I wanted to poke them in the nose." Hopkins explained his perspective of the premise: Hopkins initially shopped his script to studios for whom he had been bankable. Executives expressed interest as well as input for the script, but Hopkins refused to take the input. Hopkins showed the script to director-producer

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Sp ...

, who praised the dialogue but warned that financing would be difficult. He proceeded to begin production, initiating filming on June 12, 2006 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

and moved to the

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

desert. Gina Arroyave, Hopkins' wife, was one of the producers and acted in the film as Hopkins' on-screen wife. Hopkins rejected studios who wanted to have a final cut of the film, and he instead found a new, unidentified patron to finance the film for under $10 million. During production, filmmakers invited six graduate students from

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois. It was founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895, by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld as part of an expansion of the state's system ...

to assist with the film for college credit. Hopkins also composed the score for ''Slipstream'' and conducted the orchestra for the music. In post-production, Hopkins used quick editing and digital technology to edit a fast-paced cut of ''Slipstream'' to speed audiences through the film.

Release

The film later experienced a one-week limited release in 6 theaters in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

on October 26, 2007, earning $6,273 over the weekend and $8,965 in the full week. The film closed on November 1, 2007, after a week at the box office grossing $8,965 in the North American domestic market and $18,804 in other territories for an international total of $27,769.

Reception

''Slipstream'' premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2007. The film was met with confusion by Sundance audiences, who wondered about the actual meaning of the premise. The film was panned by critics. On the film review aggregation website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

the film has an approval rating of 23% based on reviews from 40 critics. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a score of 47 out of 100 based on reviews from 14 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Not all reviews were negative.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

gave the film three out of four stars and suggested that the film is worth seeing:

References

External links

* * *
Interview with ''Slipstream'' director Anthony Hopkins
at

Filmmaker Magazine ''Filmmaker'' is a quarterly publication magazine covering issues relating to independent film. The magazine was founded in 1992 by Karol Martesko-Fenster, Scott Macaulay and Holly Willis. The magazine is now published by the IFP (Independent Fi ...