The feature debut of director Dewey Nicks, starring Devon Sawa, Jason Schwartzman and James King, the Screen Gems presentation barely distinguishes itself with luridly graphic sex jokes, but such generic excesses continue to be enough to draw big opening weekend crowds. Unlikely to stretch beyond a modest boxoffice hit, "Slackers" at least tries to be original, but it's gotten way past the point of splitting hairs over the smutty bits, and the performers are not so strikingly original as to elevate the slack material. Schwartzman has the most lucrative role as the obsessed, undesirable loser who lusts after King's perfect coed, but screenwriter David H. Steinberg ("American Pie 2") and Nicks otherwise come up short in trying to make Sawa's character an irresistible rogue whose every devious move and mood is of interest.

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