Review of Everybody Wants Some!! (2016) by Dj I — 25 Apr 2016

A fun & nostalgic (for some of us) late 70s/early 80s romp that delivers on all fronts. There is no message, no social issue, no preaching, & no burning main plot either...but what is did possess was a boatload of realism & an authentic grasp of the time.

This is definitely a guy flick as the main characters are all male and the perspectives & interactions are mostly told from that perspective. So yes...the driving force is raging male hormones but the avenues the characters & film embark down to quench that pursuit is the hub of the film's creativity as it takes us through a buffet of different genres, cliques, people, & interests. It is the attention to detail in presenting those differing sects, however, that locks you into that time & delivers the nostalgic impact. Throw in the soundtrack and its cash money.

What I found especially refreshing was RL's portrait of the often maligned Jock clique & his respect for the concept of Team. Most films portray athletes as strictly meathead bullies but RL destroys that stereotype with prejudice. He shows that athletes are just as diverse, possess just as much depth, and are just as flawed as everybody else. Meanwhile, the tie that binds them all together is their being the baseball team. That unity is what permeates the entire movie....hazing included. Race or class take a back seat to the loyalty & bond they have stemming from that fact. If you fight one, you gotta fight'em all. A lot of films ridicule or misrepresent that because they dont understand it. RL definitely gets it.