Everybody Wants Some!!

The message is so urgent that it warrants two exclamation marks, but the statement is never fully clarified. What does everybody want? Is it beer? There is plenty. Sex? Enough to go around. Shenanigans and competitive hijinks? Probably. Sports? Very little. My guess is that the film title is a reference to college nostalgia. It is a trip down memory lane, much like “Dazed and Confused” was back in 1993, even for those who were born long after the era. It’s a period piece much like “Animal House” or “Almost Famous” where for two hours you might enjoy going back in time, if only for a moment.

The film is a fun trip back to 1980 where we follow a college freshman baseball player on his first weekend on campus during the days leading up to the start of the school year. Never before has so much partying been packed into three days, but somehow it is partially believable. Freshman pitcher Jake (Blake Jenner) plays a fantasy version of Richard Linklater as he learns the ways of the cool jocks at a baseball frat house somewhere in nondescript Texas. It’s full of drinking, drugs, sex, quirkily unbelievable characters, and college freshmen with inspiring and remarkable confidence with the ladies. They are the elite of America’s national pastime. Big fish that are jumping from a little pond to a much larger pond, and they are more than game for the challenge.

Dubbed the spiritual sequel to 1993’s epic 1970’s high school journey “Dazed and Confused”, it is less a sequel, and more of an attempt to relive a slightly later period of time in writer/director Richard Linklater’s youth. Conveniently set four years later, Jake is an older, wiser version of Wiley Wiggins, who played Mitch in “Dazed”. Baseball is his golden ticket, and he excels at playing the jock card with a coolness that is unfortunately not at all believable.

I liked the spunk of this film. It’s a fun comedy that has genuine hints of period nostalgia. Richard Linklater is a master of capturing the time and mood of his films, but he falls flat with dialogue and character development. This film is more of an attempt to reimagine “Dazed” than a sequel and I don’t share the other critics’ raving praise. Is it a fun 1980’s comedy? Absolutely. Are these characters destined to be iconic cult classics? Absolutely not. Glen Powell may be the only notable actor as Finn, the senior who serves as the sort of ringleader of the happy-go-lucky vibe of the film. Tyler Hoechlin plays the gruffer professional prospect, McReynolds. The yang to Finn’s Yin. They are an ensemble of characters that are a pretty entertaining troupe, but lack any sort of individual depth. There isn’t a Matthew McConaughey or Ben Affleck in the bunch. No Cole Hauser or Adam Goldberg.

I enjoyed the tone and spirit of this film immensely. I’m a sucker for youthful party flicks, they bring me back to my own wild years back in the late 1990’s. I couldn’t get behind the platitude of the genre however. Zoey Deutch plays Beverly, a freshman who is too hot, too mature, and too willing to hook up with Jake to be taken seriously. It’s really just too fantastic of a weekend and becomes more fantasy than historical fiction.

I did appreciate the effort put forth in this project however, and I can fully appreciate the actors’ craft in taking on roles of this nature. They probably had to get bad haircuts, grow mustaches, and drink a lot of cheap beer to prepare. Rough life. It’s not the masterpiece for which it was seemingly intended, but it is a passion project that pays off in the long run. If you go into it looking for some good old fashioned 1980’s comedy, it’s a really good time. If you’re looking for something deeper, you will be disappointed. 7/10.