The time is August of 1980, the setting is Texas, and the
guys who populate Richard Linklater’s newest film are members of a college
baseball team who share living quarters. The newly-arrived freshmen face the
challenge of fitting in with this highly disparate group, both off and on the
field.
Everybody Wants Some!!
draws us in as our nominal hero (Blake Jenner) arrives at school, and meets his
new housemates, lugging a crate of precious LPs. Each character he encounters
is colorful, well-defined, and perfectly cast. Advertised as a “spiritual
sequel” to Linklater’s Dazed and
Confused, this film is a genial celebration of hedonism, college drinking, casual
sex, hanging out with friends, and breaking down awkward social barriers. It is
completely disarming and utterly delightful.
I’m not sure how the filmmaker works with his actors to
create such tangible characters, but there is a spark of spontaneity in every
scene. It never feels as if anyone is reading memorized dialogue—even when, in
some later scenes, they become philosophical and a bit self-serious. That, too,
is part of college life.
Linklater also has a gift for casting. Some of the actors
are experienced, with solid credentials in film and television (like Wyatt
Russell, son of Kurt, and leading lady Zoey Deutch, daughter of Lea Thompson),
while others are fairly new. They work together in perfect harmony to create a
likable and believable ensemble.
Everybody Wants Some!!
is lighthearted entertainment, but like all good comedy it is rooted in
truthful observation, which is why it—like Dazed
and Confused—may prove to have staying power.
