Director/Writer: Richard Linklater
Starring: Blake Jenner, Juston Street, Ryan Guzman, Tyler Hoechlin, Wyatt Russell, Glen Powell, Temple Baker, J. Quinton Johnson, Will Brittain, Zoey Deutch, Austin Amelio, Tanner Kalina, Forrest Vickery.
As suggested by the title (a classic by Van Halen), Everybody Wants Some!! is a tribute to the ‘80s era (and yes, they all really do want some).
Ah, the ‘80s – how far we’ve come from: pooh brown pants with tight shirts tucked in, the mighty mustache – the mighty mosh out in all its glory; tape decks and punk rock, smoking where-ever, pin ball machines and table tennis.
The film had a lot of fun with the college setting in the 1980s. But Everybody Wants Some!! was also about freshmen settling into college life with all the girls and parties and lessons to be learned.
Set at the start of term, freshman Jake (Blake Jenner) arrives at a house where the ceiling is about to collapse because the guys are filling up a water bed for better bedroom experience with the ladies – the frat house for the college baseball team.
Following Jake and the other freshmen settling in over the 3 day lead-up to the beginning of classes, it’s party time, where the focus is finding a girl while sizing up the rest of the guys in the baseball team.
The guys are happily physical with each other; a natural competitiveness comes to light with each personality rising to the surface as the days and parties continue.
And the film evolves into an interesting story of guys facing the challenge of growing into themselves, and how friendships develop through the ability to appreciate difference; to be able to fight, get over it and grow.
There were some fascinating perspectives discussed while taking hits from a bong.
And I enjoyed the baseball!
I’m really not a sports fan, so I was surprised how much I liked seeing the characters play.
The baseball wasn’t a feature until later in the film and this was clever as it showed a more serious side to the characters: this wasn’t about sizing each other up and challenging, this was about working together as a team. Bullshit just doesn’t cut it because this is about their future. Something to be taken seriously.
So yes, there was loads of testosterone and girls in skimpy outfits. But there was also an honesty and sincerity here.
Richard Linklater also wrote the 1993 film Dazed and Confused (the predecessor to this one). I was far younger when I watched Dazed and Confused, and I loved the cheekiness of it, the fun.
Everybody Wants Some!! although still relational, had a greater intellectual aspect. This is a step up from High School. This is College.
These aren’t just idiot jocks out for a root (well, not all the time), there’s also a seeking, a challenge in these characters. And it was good to see guys just being guys.
At the start of the film, I would have to say the humour was aimed at a younger audience, as was the message: more your teen to 20s, perhaps. But I enjoyed the film more as it progressed.
An entertaining winter warmer loaded with testosterone developing into a film with a surprising amount of depth.