Reviews

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  ★★★★½ review by Evan on Letterboxd

  Stand By Me, Dazed and Confused, and Everybody Wants Some is the greatest trilogy of all-time. It might not be an official trilogy, but in my eyes it is. We look into the lives of middle schoolers, high schoolers, and college students. Also known as the 3 main stages of a young person's life and each film is done brilliantly. You could even substitute School of Rock for Stand By Me to make it a Linklater trilogy.

  Everybody Wants Some is a complete and utter joy. A film so full of life and spirit. A party movie with a message. I never wanted this film to end. All of the characters are absolutely fantastic. Everyone gets their moment to shine. Glen Powell was the highlight performance for me. He spits so much knowledge throughout the entire film. He was very similar to Dazed and Confused's Wooderson. And then my favorite single moment was from Juston Street, he plays the guy from Detroit. If you've seen the movie then you know what I'm talking about.

  There is not a better director working today who can capture the essence of a moment. Linklater is also one of if not the most authentic directors out there.

  If time travel ever exists, I'm going back in time and going to college in the 1980s.

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  ★★★½ review by Sarah Jane 🔪 on Letterboxd

  My original review of this was very short because, although I enjoyed the film, I didn't think it warranted any kind of lengthy write-up. I still don't think it does, really but based on everything that has been said about it over the past two months I just wanted to say a few words on how I viewed it.

  I enjoyed the movie for what it was; a movie about college male baseball players in 1980. Period. Linklater WAS a male college baseball player in 1980 so, I'm guessing he based this movie (as he does a lot of his films) on his experience. I also asked my husband (who was around the same age as Linklater and grew up in Texas) if this was what guys were like and he said yes. So, in terms of the film's content, I'm not going to fault it. Guys were like this. Hell, some guys are still like this. Sure, I can say I don't like the behavior of the men the movie. I can say they are pigs but, if Linklater is writing from experience, and his teammates were even sort of like that, should I expect him to change the characters to fit the way we want them to be in society today? I say no.

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  ★★★★½ review by Eli Hayes on Letterboxd

  There wasn't a single minute of this film's runtime during which my emotional expression wasn't ranging from a light chuckle to hysterical laughter. Maybe my favorite comedy of the decade so far. The entire cast needs their own TV series.

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  ★★★½ review by Mike D'Angelo on Letterboxd

  70/100

  Second viewing, up from 64. Not sure why most of the characters seemed indistinguishable to me the first time, as they're really quite a diverse cross-section of jockery (for lack of a better word); I still find Finn more magnetic than the rest, but warmed up enormously to everyone save for the overly spastic Jay Niles (who still seems to belong to a completely different movie). Also better appreciated the structure, with its emphasis on constant re-invention and adaptation. Mostly, though, I think it's just that fundamentally anecdotal ensemble pieces like this (and Dazed, and even something as removed from those two as Stillman's Metropolitan) require a certain degree of immersion/repetition before they fully take hold. Would not be surprised if this gets another six points from me every few years, as I return to it over and over.

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  ★★★★ review by Wesley R. Ball on Letterboxd

  AKA Hazed and Confused, Richard Linklater's Everybody Wants Some!! (the two exclamation points are vital as they are a part of the original Van Halen song's title as well) is a genuinely funny and surprisingly nostalgic examination of the standard college student's life atmosphere.The film was originally touted as a spiritual sequel to both Boyhood and Dazed and Confused, and it's not hard to make the connections. Everybody Wants Some!! starts right where Boyhood left off, with the college freshman protagonist moving into his new college dorm and meeting his new roommates and a girl. The story and script, however, are far more comedic in their approach, making the film less of a unique personal experience and more of a great comedy.

  Just as Boyhood set out to capture millenial nostalgia while progressively monitoring the metamorphosis of a child, Everybody Wants Some!! gives us a brief peer into the hectic few days leading up to a college freshman's first day of class while piling on all the 80's nostalgia it can muster. The soundtrack is rife with rock classics from greats like Queen and Pat Benatar, along with a host of other subtle nostalgic placements that will make the older generations long for their glory days.

  Everybody Wants Some!! is bookmarked with scenes of signature Linklater-style pseudo-intellectualism. The extensive conversations between characters that were present in his other films like Boyhood and Dazed and Confused return to drop more youthful wisdom in style, although it's far less marijuana-induced than Dazed and Confused was. Whereas the latter film was practically rolling in reefer smoke, Everybody Wants Some!! only features one (admittedly hilarious) scene of drug use, whereas Linklater chooses to focus his film more on the connection between these college students and the surrounding nostalgic factors. Rest assured that if you were a fan of the way the dialogue was handled in Dazed and Confused, you'll probably end up loving Everybody Wants Some!!.

  As some may already know, the original title for Everybody Wants Some!! was That's What I'm Talking About, a line frequently uttered by the characters in Dazed and Confused. While I can see how many would appreciate the subtle connection that the title would have made between the two films, I feel that the new title was better because the line ("That's what I'm talking about!") is repeated many times over by most of the main characters. Had the original title been kept, the fact that many of the characters keep repeating this line would have felt far too repetitive to me, considering it was already a trademark repeated line in Dazed and Confused. It simply would have felt like a bit too forced of a tie between the two films, and I feel that Everbody Wants Some!! is a far better title that works better with the film's tone and atmosphere.

  Sandra Adair's editing is just on point in Everybody Wants Some!! as well. The longtime Linklater collaborator who pieced together Mason's filmed story for Boyhood returns to the cutting room for this film, and the editing style lets the film flow freely and wildly. Her editing perfectly fits the frenetic, carefree story that is on display, panning from one scene to the next without blinking an eye or giving time to recover. It's a perfect style that complemented the film like none other.

  Everybody Wants Some!! is a great companion piece to Boyhood and Dazed and Confused. All three could be viewed as some kind of "trilogy of youth," films that artistically capture some key moments of adolescence. Boyhood starts off by thoroughly chronicling one kid's journey to his teenage years, Dazed and Confused examines the final day of high school for a group of friends, and Everybody Wants Some!! nicely rounds it off by capturing the best moments in the last few days leading up to the first day of college. Linklater shows a genuine passion for finding the connection between life and art, and exploiting it to the best of his abilities. Brimming with nostalgia and full of genuinely hilarious moments, Everybody Wants Some!! is another hit for Richard Linklater.

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