Everybody Wants Some!!

Year: 2016
Genre: Comedy
Directed: Richard Linklater
Stars: Blake Jenner, Zoey Deutch, Juston Street, Ryan Guzman, Tyler Hoechlin, Wyatt Russell, Glen Powell, Temple Baker, J. Quinton Johnson, Will Brittain, Austin Amelio, Tanner Kalina, Forrest Vickery
Production: Annapurna Pictures

I start this review with a warning: this is a Richard Linklater joint. And I'm not talking about mainstream Linklater; the director responsible for the inspired School of Rock (2003) and the middling Bad News Bears (2005) remake. We're in deep youthful good-time meets pseudo-philosophical territory with Everybody Wants Some!! It claims to be the spiritual sequel to Dazed and Confused (1993), a film that mirrors the non-conforming narrative and deep affection for character in Linklater's latest. What sets Everybody Wants Some!! apart and just a sliver above Dazed and Confused is it's tighter focus on camaraderie.

The film begins with hotshot high school pitcher Jake (Jenner) driving to college circa 1980. He enters one of the two baseball houses just off campus and first meets the team's ultra-competitive captain McReynolds (Hoechlin) the easy-going Roper (Guzman), Dale (Johnson) the resident cynic (and their only black teammate), the gleeful Finnegan (Powell) and fellow freshman Plummer (Baker). Within a four day period, Jake meets and takes in the various quirks of the rest of his teammates all while attempting to woo a girl living back at the dorms.

At first glance, Everybody Wants Some!! sells itself as a good 'ol time college movie in the vain of Animal House (1978). Indeed Jake gets himself into the usual bacchanalian misadventures: smoking weed with team stoner-philosopher Willoughby (Russell), breaking up bar fights started by team hothead Jay (Street) and otherwise ambling into a multitude of parties. Yet beyond all the chaos and stupidity these knuckleheads get themselves into, there's an underlining theme of team bonding and brotherhood. The guys share their thoughts on life, music, booze, identity, and of course baseball. The upperclassmen then take the freshmen under their wings and show them the most important aspect of college life; women.

"The secret of being a bore is to tell everything"

Of course if a good time is all you're expecting then Everybody Wants Some!! is a home run providing laughs, merriment and a killer soundtrack. However, the film doesn't just settle as an updated version of Porky's (1981) it actually has a brain. Teammates such as Willoughby and Finnegan speak with poetry and passion evoking the thoughts of everyone from Voltaire to de Saussure. While not as well-spoken as many of the rest, Jake does get the blue ribbon for most dactylic interpretation of baseball. His teleological relation to the sport and the legend of Sisyphus surely would have made Kiekegaard smile.

Of course despite it's high-minded ideals, the film is not without its faults. The most egregious of which is it's casual sexism which, while can be chalked up to "period detail", nevertheless feels just plain gross. Linklater attempts to address this attitude within Jake's arc which begins with him rubbernecking girls and ends with him in a monogamous relationship. Yet with so many conflicting ideas on women in this film all bordering on paternalism, one can't help but think Linklater's broad sweep is just a way to avoid the issue. Sure there's fully developed female characters (okay really just one) but when the picture shows two women in white panties mud-wrestling what are we supposed to be thinking? "wow things were so weird back then," or are we supposed to think, "oh well, boys will be boys."

It's not sexism if you don't get caught!

Dreamily and nostalgically making its way through its self-imposed time-limit, Everybody Wants Some!! is a solid film. It casually drops nuggets of wisdom amid a mess of goofy shenanigans that are both funny and charming. The acting across the board is superb with each member of the group having time to shine. Humanistic in its perspective and memorable in its impact, Everybody Wants Some!! is that rare breed of film. One that's both raucous and shrewd.

Final Grade: B-