Get to Know Your Man-Child, Part 8: The Man-Child is a Slacker

Jeff Bridges, Steve Buscemi and John Goodman in The Big Lebowski (1998)

Let us examine the history of the man-child slacker in the history of film comedy.

Harold Lloyd in Why Worry (1923)

Buster Keaton

Keaton in The Navigator (1924)

Keaton in Seven Chances (1925)

Even a war cannot invigorate a true slacker.

Keaton and Cliff Edwards in Doughboys (1930)

Billy Bevan and Andy Clyde in Wandering Willies (1926)

The Marx Brothers in A Night at the Opera (1935)

Harpo and Groucho Marx in The Big Store (1941)

Groucho Marx in The Big Store

Art Carney, Jackie Gleason and Audrey Meadows in "The Honeymooners" television series

Michael Bentine, Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe and Peter Sellers

Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast At Tiffany's (1961)

Harold Ramis and Bill Murray in Stripes (1981)

In Stripes (1981), Bill Murray cannot even muster the energy to sit up when his girlfriend (Roberta Leighton) is breaking up with him.


Stranger Than Paradise (1984) was a seminal slacker comedy.  The characters lack purpose or direction. They slouch and shamble their way through uneventful lives.

Richard Edson, John Lurie and Eszter Balint in Stranger than Paradise (1984)

Lurie and Edson in Stranger Than Paradise

Lurie in Stranger Than Paradise

Steve Martin and John Candy in Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)

Martin and Candy again

Adam Sandler

Jeff Anderson and Brian O'Halloran in Clerks (1994)

Seinfeld's ultimate man-child George Costanza is too lazy to ride a bicycle, too irresponsible to own a dog, too unalluring to attract a kiss, too insensitive to cry, and too impatient to take a bath.  But, much like a baby, he is focused almost entirely on sleeping and eating.


George made it part of his daily office routine to hide under his desk for a deep afternoon snooze.


George's friend Kramer was just as unproductive.

Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes in "Spaced" television series

Jeff Bridges in Big Lebowski (1998)

Will Ferrell in Elf (2003)

Simon Pegg in Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Stephen Root and Justin Long in Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004)

Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel and Jason Segel in Knocked Up (2007)

Charlene Yi and Martin Starr in Knocked Up (2007)

Matt Dillon and Owen Wilson in You, Me and Dupree (2006)

Celia Weston and Seth Rogen in Observe and Report (2009)

Murray is still a slacker after all these years.  Here he takes a nap on the set of The Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009).

Zach Galifianakis and Robert Downey Jr. in Due Date (2010)

Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, James Franco, Craig Robinson and Jay Baruchel in This is the End (2013)

Joshua Burge and Joel Potrykus in Buzzard (2014)

Jeff Garlin is concerned about his slacker daughter (Keira Knightley) in Laggies (2014).

Ilana Glazer of "Broad City" television series

A clue that a film is about a slacker is the presence of a lounge chair in the poster.

Jason Segel, Rashida Jones and Paul Rudd in I Love You, Man (2009)

Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew McConaughey in Failure to Launch (2006)

Who are the biggest slackers and nappers in film comedy?

1.) Charlie Chaplin 

The Adventurer (1917)

The Tramp, as other homeless fellows, spent much of his time looking for a good place to curl up and take a nap.

Edna Purviance and Chaplin

Tom Wilson and Chaplin

Jackie Coogan and Chaplin

Chaplin and Purviance

Chaplin and Purviance

Harry Myers and Chaplin

Paulette Goddard and Chaplin

2.) Laurel and Hardy

Laurel and Hardy were among film history's greatest layabouts.  The two men slept like a pair of babies.


3.) The Three Stooges

No Census, No Feeling (1940)

It is no secret to comedy fans that the Three Stooges slept a lot.

Hoi Polloi (1935)

Half Shot Shooters (1936)

False Alarms (1936)

Dizzy Doctors (1937)

Dizzy Doctors (1937)

Three Missing Links (1938)

How High is Up? (1940)

In the Sweet Pie and Pie (1941)

In the Sweet Pie and Pie

In the Sweet Pie and Pie

Cactus Makes Perfect (1942)

Sock-A-Bye Baby (1942)

Idle Roomers (1944)

Hold that Lion (1947)

In the Sweet Pie and Pie (1941)

Putting together this report was tiring.  It's time for a nap.


Read more about the comic man-child in I Won't Grow Up!: The Comic Man-Child in Film from 1901 to the Present.