Review of Everybody Wants Some!! (2016) by Brian S — 11 Apr 2016

With the 1993 film Dazed and Confused, writer/director Richard Linklater would probably be hard pressed to have anticipated the impact his story about a group of 1976 high school kids on the last day before summer would have throughout the years.

Although the setup had been done before (George Lucas's 1973 American Graffiti is an obvious influence), Linklater instilled otherwise cliché characters (the jocks, nerds, stoners, etc.) and scenarios with a depth that is rarely translated well onto screen.

Twenty-three years later, the Texan native gets back into the groove of eight-tracks, bell-bottoms and growing up with his 'spiritual sequel' to that landmark film with 2016s Everybody Wants Some!!-a true experience where the artistry and entertainment of filmmaking is on display.

As with his "Before" series, Linklater has proven he has a special knack of continuing his narrative threads (many) years later and while Everybody Wants Some!! has no distinct relation to Dazed and Confused with the characters, time (this takes place in 1980) or setting (college is the cool place to be), the thematic ideas are still very much rooted in that special ground from way back when.

Parts of the film may feel 'been there, done that', but as in Dazed and Confused, Linklater proves to be a specialist in creating everyday occurrences or situations that transcend into something that is wholly relatable and even unique, ensuring that Everybody Wants Some!! has the pedigree to have the same impact as its important predecessor.