From the title one might suppose that this is a horror movie that has something to do with snakes. It isn't. It is actually a very droll road movie about a search for the stashed proceeds of a crime committed some years earlier. In that sense, it may be compared with "It's a Mad, Mad World". However, while that earlier film represents an homage to the comedy style of the past, "Slither" is more of a preview of the comedy style of the future. In "Slither" the characters and more realistic, the comedy is less obvious, and the entire story seems to delight in going into directions that one would not necessarily expect. In fact, "Slither" seems like a prequel to the sort of movies made by the Coen Brothers such as "The Big Labowski", "Fargo" and "Oh Brother, Where art Thou?".James Can plays a small-time criminal who, along with another guy, has just been released from prison along. When his companion invites him home for a beer to celebrate their freedom he is suddenly shot through the window. The dying ex-con imparts to Caan instructions to recover the loot from his crime, setting in motion a chain of strange encounters and events, not the least of which involves a road trip in a car towing a house trailer. One can only presume that the title "Slither" was derived from the violent motions of the trailer during the course of the inevitable cross-country chase. On the occasion when the musical "Goodbye Mr. Chips" was presented in a command performance to Queen Elizabeth, Sally Kellerman reputedly said remarked that Her Majesty would probably have found "Slither" more entertaining. She was probably right.

Probably Caan's best movie , a great cast, subtle comedy, brilliant direction and pure originality.

Off-beat kooky film that's great with relaxed and funny performances from James Caan & Sally Kellerman in the leads. Howard Zieff also directed HEARTS OF THE WEST 3 years later (wonderful flick). Road flick, dangerous, great supporting cast including Peter Boyle (so great in JOE, TAXI DRIVER, and THE CANDIDATE and Louise Lasser - always interesting). From the opening with Richard B. Schull, James Caan is in a state of perpetual paranoia in the plains and it's like a Jonathan Demme film crossed with David Lynch with a touch of Woody Allen. An 8 out of 10. Best performance = Peter Boyle.Seek this little gem out if you're interested in hip 70's films that didn't make the bucks and really wasn't seen by many Americans. Terrific stuff with a laid-back yet keen sensibility.

I usually either don't like, or hate, action comedies - though Slither isn't one entirely. But, as far as it IS an action one, it's the best one ever made, and (to me) about the most underrated comedy of ANY category. Most comedies or dramas about cops and robbers (or about criminals, period) promise to be about the CHARACTERS more than anything, but this one keeps that promise completely. I do have one complaint about the Sally Kellerman character, and that's that, in most of the film, she was a sort of WOULD-BE maniacal character, and that one scene of her actually holding up a diner spoils that in a way. But at least that scene gave James Caan the chance to do what he did best in the movie, which was acting horrifed or disgusted by everything that happened around him. Somehow, this doesn't wear thin anywhere in the movie, especially in his scenes with Kellerman. I usually don't like crude dialogue when it's there just for the sake of it, but the laundromat scene, where she grosses him out with her talk, is done just right, and that's why it's funny. I have what is probably a real minority opinion about the film version of MASH, and that's that it works EXCEPT for the "Burns and Houlihan" scenes, which (to me) were a real waste of both her and Duvall (including that hugely famous scene). All I can say is that anyone wanting to see Sally Kellerman in a FUNNY role should see Slither instead. The same is true of Peter Boyle and Louise Lasser, and all the character actors in smaller parts, all the way to the ones in the bingo hall scene. I don't know why most other comedies of this category can't at least APPROACH this one.