Star Has a Thick Skin for Critics Barbs

Published February 6 2002 in the 'Fort Worth Star-Telegram'
Written by: Robert Philpot

Last Friday, the college comedy "Slackers" opened to withering reviews and weak box-office numbers. It's not the first time the movie's star, Devon Sawa, has endured a critical hammering for one of his films. The affable 23-year-old has made some respected pictures, such as 1999's "SLC Punk!," and some enjoyable popcorn movies, such as the 2000 horror thriller "Final Destination." But many critics considered his 1999 film "Idle Hands" to be the devil's work, and many weren't wild about 1997's "Wild America," in which Sawa played one of three adventurous teen-age naturalists.

But Sawa, who has been acting since sixth grade and making movies since he was 17 or so, shrugs off the negative comments.

"A lot of the movies I pick are a little more edgy, they push the envelope a little more," Sawa says during a brief Dallas interview. "I do it `cause I like the material. Some critics like it; some critics don't. Some people like it, some don't. That's the way the world turns, I suppose."

Whether "Slackers" is "edgy" depends on your point of view. Sawa plays Dave, one of three guys who makes it through college by cheating instead of studying. The college nerd, Cool Ethan ("Rushmore's" Jason Schwartzman), catches them in the act, and threatens to expose them unless they set him up with Angela (model James King), his big crush. But when he tries to get Angela to fall for Ethan, Dave winds up falling for Angela himself.

"They're not stupid," Sawa says of the slacker trio. "They're smart, and they find a way to beat the system. There is quite a bit of work in another sense; instead of reading a book, they're breaking into computers."

Sounds safe enough, right? But then the movie throws in jokes about oral sex, masturbation and flatulence. In one scene, one of Dave's partners in crime does a duet with a sock puppet, which he wears on his privates. In another, Schwartzman gives former B-movie star Mamie Van Doren, who just turned 71, a sponge bath, during which Van Doren goes topless. Cool Ethan's crush is more like a stalker obsession. Throughout the movie, misogyny abounds, but then, the male characters aren't exactly treated well, either.

But Sawa says he had his reasons for picking it.

"It wasn't as fluffy as some of the other scripts I was getting, which were more romantic comedies," he says. "That's all great...but this is `out there.' It's pushing the envelope. It's edgier. We'll see how people respond."

Sawa sounds like an old pro.

Born and reared in Vancouver, British Columbia, Sawa was doing commercials in the Canadian city when his agent told him about an open casting call for the movie "Casper," which was released in 1995. The filmmakers were looking for a young boy to play a physical manifestation of the friendly ghost.

"They must have had 2,000 kids send in tapes," Sawa says. "So I sent my tape in and got really lucky. One day I'd sent a tape, and the next day they called me and said, `Why don't you come down?' "

"Casper" opened the door for Sawa to appear in 1995's "Now and Then," which reunited him with "Casper" star Christina Ricci. Despite many underwhelming reviews, "Wild America" earned Sawa enough youth-audience attention that he became a staple of teen magazines. The horror-comedy "Idle Hands," in which Sawa plays a slacker who does battle with his own demoniacally possessed hand, has a cult following. And "Final Destination," featuring Sawa as a plane-crash survivor who is stalked by death, continues to have a life on video.

All these teen movies kept the actor from having a traditional teen life, but again, he shrugs that off.

"School, prom — I missed all that stuff," Sawa says. "But I don't really miss it, and I don't really mind, because at the same time, I was traveling to places like Calgary and Savannah and California, and meeting all sorts of new people and seeing all sorts of exciting things. It's a great life."

Sawa's upcoming projects include a film known until recently as "The Extremists" (he says it's now known as "Untitled Ski Movie") in which he plays one of a team of extreme-sports enthusiasts who get mixed up with terrorists in Europe. He'll also reunite with his "Final Destination" co-star Amanda Detmer in what Sawa calls a "kinda romantic comedy." And Sawa says he would like to move on to more dramatic material. For now, he understands the need for a thick skin, although most of the barbs aimed at his movies haven't been aimed directly at him.

"There's a lot of rejection," he says. "I try not to read many of the opening-weekend reviews. "I haven't been picked on yet. Knock on wood."

Back 12.31.2007.