Everybody Wants Some!!

Directed by Richard Linklater

Starring Blake Jenner, Glen Powell,Will Brittain, Juston Street, Ryan Guzman, Tyler Hoechlin

Review by Jordan

“We came for a good time, not for a long time.”

In 1993, Dazed and Confused left us saddened by the separation of a group of high-school dreamers and graduates, such was its authenticity and the emotional hold it built through recreating life’s great uncertainties in a singular setting scale. It wasn’t intentionally sad, but rather thoroughly nostalgic, and representative of our most basic fears and feelings.

Now, in 2016, Richard Linklater has returned to his roots with Everybody Wants Some!! set four years on from his original classic in 1980 and chronicling Jake (Blake Jenner), a college freshman as he is introduced to his new environment and hits the ground running; understanding the hierarchy and traditions of his baseball team share house, learning to adapt to the theme of each bar or club to chase girls and perhaps eventually coming to the realisation that responsibility will find us, no matter what we do.

Firstly, though, there’s the weekend to revel in.

Rich with characters who harness the extremes of their personalities to define themselves but can’t fully repress their unstated shortcomings, and touching on important life matters ranging from faith to identity while presenting those small moments that either paint the bigger picture of who we are and want we want, or simply exist to help us through the spaces between the panels, Everybody Wants Some!! (exclamation marks included) lives and breathes truisms that yearn to be given over to, while remaining wholly entertaining throughout.

Bueter, another freshman trying out for the squad and berated for his strong accent and naivety, has travelled further than most and left his sweetheart behind to navigate the complexities of a long-distance relationship. Upon admitting his struggling with the temptations constantly presented, which would jeopardise his oft-mocked relationship and religious beliefs, his beer-fuelled teammates instead of encouraging an abandonment of morals berate him once more for his rapid desire to forgo them, before having another round and themselves casting an eye over the crowd. The writing of dialogue and character decisions in moments such as this reveal where the heart of the film lies – in understanding an individual’s ability to trust their inner instincts above the persuasion and influences often innocuously placed. For one freshman this means the urge to revisit an early occurrence with a girl he might fall in love with, and to the more popular Finnegan it’s, well, harder to place.

There is an intelligence present in understanding the minds of a collection of mismatched students with baseball and girls ruling the forefront, but also in showing the stupid games and competitions they enjoy (or suffer through) when in-between plans. Like Dazed and Confused, this fantastic film is honest, deep and above all else, terrifically enjoyable.

4.5 sliced baseballs out of 5