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Opening with the instantly recognizable bass riff to The Knack’s “My Sharona,” Richard Linklater’s Everybody Wants Some!! announces itself as more than just a “spiritual sequel” to Dazed and Confused. It stands on its own as a look into the world of college in the early 1980s, when the most important thing was a record collection, girls, alcohol and - even if no one wanted to admit it - friendship.
Like Dazed, Everybody Wants Some!! doesn’t have much of a plot in the typical sense and the similarities end there. We entered the world of a Texas university baseball team through the eyes of freshman Jake (Blake Jenner), a pitcher. Linklater coves the last few days of summer, before the semester begins.
The upperclassmen are all unique characters, with Linklater defining them easily and adding more refinement to make sure they don’t come off as boring caricatures. For example, Finnegan (Glen Powell) comes off as the typical jock and leader of the group. But as we get to know him more, through Jake, it becomes clear that there is more to him.
Yes, somehow in this two-hour ‘80s romp, Linklater has enough time to devote his energy to every character. Jake might be the one who gets the only interesting female character in the piece, Beverly (Zoey Deutch), but he’s not the only character we enjoy hanging out with. It’s clear that the actors developed a sense of community, as the final product makes it appear as though they have known each other for years before the cameras began rolling.
This means that the performances are uniformly great and the film should prove to audiences that this is another young crop of actors who should be stars. Everyone gets their own spotlight moment and everyone seems to be having a blast on the screen.
Everybody Wants Some is also a music lesson. Linklater takes us through dance halls and bars to push the story along and also show off his brilliant skills at picking the right music for the right moment. This ties in to his attention to detail, recreating the ‘80s with a sort of glossy sheen. Of course, that also reminds us how incredibly specific the movie is. In no way does Linklater try to tell us that all ‘80s college kids were like this and we only briefly look outside the baseball team’s closed world.
Still, that’s the fun of a movie like this, giving us an opportunity to look at a world we don’t see any more and realizing that this group is just like any other. Once everyone realizes how much they have in common, be it love for baseball or a love for theater or other interests, a bond is instantly created. Linklater once again shows that you can take characters through an important stage of life without needing to bow down to plot conventions in order to keep the audience entertained. Of course, he also proves that live is much better when ‘80s music is playing.
Everybody Wants Some!! opened the SXSW Film Festival on March 11 and hits theaters nationwide on April 1.