Many of us can and will always reminisce about the days when our time was spent hanging out and growing into adulthood. These are days that come with fun, but they represent a period where we are learning who we are and what we’re going to become. With the help of a lively young cast, Richard Linklater is able to successfully recreate that time period with for audiences with the compelling Everybody Wants Some!!.
Set in the early 1980’s, this spiritual sequel to Dazed and Confused follows the lives of a college baseball team who are spending their first three days together before school starts. As Jake (Blake Jenner) moves into his new place, he’s introduced to the other guys and learns the rules of college while finding out if he and his team have what it takes to flourish in a world full of opportunity and unsupervised freedom.
With Everybody Wants Some!!, we’re usually watching a bunch of ball players in their element off the ball field as they’re acclimating to both their environment and to one another. At some point, you’ll see them doing the stuff like partying or hanging out or even just playing games inside the house that they’re staying in. All in all, this seems fairly normal for many of us, but I think that’s the point.
Over the course of this short span of time, we are asked to see these young men be young men. Together, this allows them to grow accustomed to each other and build the kind of camaraderie necessary for a run at a championship. Both in sports and in life, that’s one of the aspects that’s important to our existence and the nature of human relationships. Whether we spend time on or off the field, this movie grants us an opportunity to study ourselves people.
On the surface, one might assume that this isn’t a movie with a great deal of depth in terms of story. However, you would probably have to ignore the points that were just pointed out in order to have that perspective. Asking viewers to follow these characters and learn about who they are is the key to everything. It’s also what ultimately what makes this as outstanding as it is.
In describing the characters in Everybody Wants Some!!, I’ll say that these guys are so fleshed out and engaging overall, that there really isn’t much of a need for it to have the obvious forms of story that we usually look for in film. All of these guys are vastly entertaining and I honestly liked pretty much every character who graced the screen. That’s saying something, because movies don’t usually give you enough time and personality to truly appreciate this many characters.
With all of this being said, Everybody Wants Some!! is a fun-loving feature that paints a positive picture about being yourself and understanding the importance of building relationships. Because of this, it’s a comedy that just about anyone can find to be both humorous and engrossing. This makes this late follow up to Dazed and Confused worth the wait and worth a watch.
Rating: R
Director: Richard Linklater
Cast:
Blake Jenner
Zoey Deutch
Glen Powell
Tyler Hoechlin
Wyatt Russell
Ryan Guzman
Will Brittain
Quinton Johnson
Juston Street
Austin Amelio
Forrest Vickery
Temple Baker
Tanner Kalina
Dora Madison Burge
Film Length: 116 minutes
Release Date: March 30, 2016
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
