Review: ‘Everybody Wants Some!!’ captures the feel of both the 80s and college

Posted on April 29, 2016

By MARK VIOLA

I have no problem with mainstream blockbusters, but I also love finding smaller films destined to become classics in their various genres.

Director Richard Linklater has given us more than his fair share of the latter, including the 1970s retrospective “Dazed and Confused,” his romantic trilogy “Before Sunrise,” “Before Sunset” and “Before Midnight,” as well as the 12-year odyssey that was “Boyhood.”

Serving as a spiritual sequel to 1993’s “Dazed and Confused,” which tackled high school in the 1970s, we now have “Everybody Wants Some!!” This new film, which has been one of the most buzzed about small releases of the spring, is set in 1980 and follows a group of college baseball players as they arrive on campus for a new year, or in the case of some, leaving home for the first time and experiencing the challenges and adventures that come with the resulting freedom.

I perhaps throw the word realism around too often in my reviews, but in this case, there is no better word. Like in “Boyhood,” which ended just as its main character arrived in college, “Everybody Wants Some!!” is populated with realistic characters spouting realistic dialogue and acting in realistic ways. Also like that film, there really isn’t a core central plot aside from examining just how the characters react to each other and the situations in which they find themselves over the course of a single weekend.

I was a geek in college and can in no way relate these characters from personal experience, but that didn’t stop me from thoroughly enjoying this movie from start to finish. The film also does a wonderful job recreating the early 1980s, and the time period itself ultimately feels as if it becomes one of the characters. Simply put, almost everything about this movie works perfectly.

“Everybody Wants Some!!” is one of the best movies I’ve seen in 2016 and adds to a very successful spring in regards to recent limited releases. If the story and the characters seem like something you might enjoy, I highly recommend you check this one out. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

The film is rated R for language throughout, sexual content, drug use and some nudity.

(This is a abbreviated version of the full review available in our printed or e-edition papers.)

 

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