| In just the last two years, filmmaker Richard Linklater has looked at a boy’s formative years, the marriage of two middle-aged characters, and now he’s going back to college. He has called Everybody Wants Some!! a spiritual sequel to the 1970s high school stoner comedy Dazed and Confused. A highly regarded early film for him, but one that I could just never get into. Instead of the last day of high school, it’s now the first weekend of college in the 1980s for a new set of characters. | | 2016
Directed by: Richard Linklater
Screenplay by: Richard Linklater
Starring: Blake Jenner, Ryan Guzman, Tyler Hoechlin, Glen Powell
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These characters are all baseball players where college is the stepping stone before the big leagues. Presumably making the team is their number one priority, but getting laid and getting drunk also rank very highly. Ultimately, the film is about all the many experiences during one weekend before classes (and baseball) actually start.
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Left to right: Zoey Deutch plays Beverly and Blake Jenner plays Jake in
Everybody Wants Some from Paramount Pictures and Annapurna Pictures.
Photo credit: Van Redin © 2015 PARAMOUNT PICTURES. |
I think one of the main reasons why this film works so well is that there is just one central character, and he’s a great one. Blake Jenner stars as Jake, and compared to all of the craziness going on around him, he’s relatively normal. Off the bat, his two main concerns are being prepared for their first big practice, and getting along with his teammates. The team all live in one frat-like house and his teammates prove to be loud-mouthed, misogynistic idiots.
The boys proceed to immediately break all of the rules that their coach lays out for them – like no booze or girls in the house. And that provides a decent amount of comedy for the audience to accept all the idiocy of the supporting players.
Sometimes the film meanders a lot with the guys partying and the guys partying even more. But the highlights include Jenner evolving Jake into a guy who both fits in with his teammates and at the same time endears himself to the audience. He meets a girl (solely by being the “cute and quiet one”) and the beginnings of his relationship with Beverly (Zoey Dutch) are handled well.
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Left to right: Blake Jenner plays Jake, Glen Powell plays Finnegan, Temple Baker plays Plummer
and Forrest Vickery plays Coma in Everybody Wants Some from Paramount Pictures and Annapurna Pictures.
Photo credit: Van Redin © 2015 PARAMOUNT PICTURES. |
And then there’s Jake’s most entertaining housemate. Glen Powell as Finnegan had many hilarious one-liners with perfect delivery. An example where humour can really help get over the hurdle of unlikableness and meandering plot.
And of course holding the whole weekend together is the fact that classes start Monday morning and their team practice is Sunday afternoon. And two nights of partying could make consciousness a major hurdle, let alone actually playing well. The film also has some interesting reveals for the supporting characters. Like Linklater has handled so well throughout his career, there is a lot to be enjoyed in the simpler, smaller moments of Everybody Wants Some!!
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