Cruising. Illustration by Jeremiah Moon.
A character states "Here for a good time, not a long time", which perfectly sums up the spirit of Richard Linkater's latest film Everybody Wants Some!!. Everybody is a meandering, affable movie buoyed up by an equally charming fresh-faced cast in the first throes of college life. Although the story centers around a college baseball team, there's little of baseball action we see or even of its education. But that perhaps begs the question of what we define as college life at all -- which Everybody encapsulates the best in this wild and thoughtful romp.
There's a loose freedom here in Linklater's work that parallels the freedom of a star pitcher, played by Blake Jenner, driving in the unsupervised world of college for the first time. Linklater allows for what he does best here: a drift from conversation to brief moments that may not be remembered in the future, except those vague halcyon-tinged memories of what it meant to swagger around with all the confidence of youth or to stay up all night with someone who could electrify your existence. If some of the words seem misguided or affected at times, it's because that's who we are at that age.
As always, Linklater delivers a killer soundtrack that remains on the ball throughout. There's no anxiety, no real conflict, and best of all no conclusions. The cast of characters allows itself to change every night in order, ultimately, to continue partying, and maybe that is the lesson to take away if any. We can only continue on if we disavow conclusions. It's impossible to travel back to the 80s or even to our own college days, but Everybody does the job in reminding us of those invincible endless days.
There's a loose freedom here in Linklater's work that parallels the freedom of a star pitcher, played by Blake Jenner, driving in the unsupervised world of college for the first time. Linklater allows for what he does best here: a drift from conversation to brief moments that may not be remembered in the future, except those vague halcyon-tinged memories of what it meant to swagger around with all the confidence of youth or to stay up all night with someone who could electrify your existence. If some of the words seem misguided or affected at times, it's because that's who we are at that age.
As always, Linklater delivers a killer soundtrack that remains on the ball throughout. There's no anxiety, no real conflict, and best of all no conclusions. The cast of characters allows itself to change every night in order, ultimately, to continue partying, and maybe that is the lesson to take away if any. We can only continue on if we disavow conclusions. It's impossible to travel back to the 80s or even to our own college days, but Everybody does the job in reminding us of those invincible endless days.
