BEST NEW FEATURE
In 1993, director Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused was released, a coming-of-age film which would later become one of the director's few entries in the Criterion Collection. Following the success of his 2014 opus Boyhood, he began work on a "spiritual sequel," which finally materialized as Everybody Wants Some!!, a film which features an entirely different cast but has been widely praised for capturing the same spirit. I haven't seen Dazed and Confused, but even with my relative lack of experience with Linklater's more modest films, Everybody Wants Some!! is nothing short of delightful.
Set in 1980, Everybody Wants Some!! is an ensemble piece following a group of college baseball players in the waning days of August, before school starts. There's hardly any narrative beyond that, although there's some semblance of a main character in the form of Jake (Blake Jenner), a freshman who has just moved into the house being used as extra dorm space by the baseball team. Mostly, the characters just go to parties, try to pick up chicks, and compete with each other. Thankfully, these situations complement the characters, whose personalities are a large part of the film's humour and charm. While not all of the characters necessarily stand out, many have vivid and entertaining personalities, and even when this doesn't lead to the film's big laughs, it keeps the film delightfully amiable.
That these characters are so endearing comes partially in spite of their testosterone-fuelled antics, but also in part because of them. Most of the ensemble is at least a little douchey, but the film seems to recognize that and is in part about how the partying and hazing builds up camaraderie and, more broadly, how those are essential to at least this particular college experience. I don't doubt that much of the film is derived from Linklater's own nostalgia, and that nostalgic viewpoint essentially defines the film's deeper themes. Everybody Wants Some!! is, more than anything else, about a specific time and place, and its specificness somehow becomes a vague sort of universality, perhaps because its fuzzy nostalgia hits on key aspects of growing up: forming bonds, and having new experiences.
Each scene in Everybody Wants Some!! is a sort of vignette, preserved as a time capsule in lieu of a connecting plot. As much as the characters contribute to the film's humour, it might not be quite as enjoyable if the big laughs weren't for the ambient energy which is drawn out of each scenario. In some scenes, it's simply the vibe of the party or of the conversation, while others add to that a mildly homoerotic undercurrent. If anything, the film's plotless energy is not unlike last year's Magic Mike XXL, although Linklater's nostalgia perhaps has wider appeal than XXL's modest finality. Still, the similarities are more than skin deep: both films are about a likeable group of bros going from place to place and having a good time. Everybody Wants Some!! might not be as unabashed (or respectful) in its sexual openness, but with its younger point-of-view, perhaps that is the point. The main characters are a bunch of horny college bros, after all.
Although not the best film in Linklater's catalogue - it's no Boyhood or Before trilogy - Everybody Wants Some!! is a blast. Its nostalgic themes aren't the most poignant or significant in the world, but they're weighted in a hilarious and compulsively watchable film, one with an ensemble of thoroughly enjoyable characters and a smattering of great comedic moments. Linklater's writing is as strong as always, and more than anything, this is a fun film. It may be life-affirming, or it may merely be a good time, but as enjoyable and memorable a film as this is easy to recommend.
8/10
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