A group of college baseball players navigate their way through the freedoms and responsibilities of unsupervised adulthood.

‘Everybody Wants Some!!’ is a terrific movie from Richard Linklater that perfectly evokes its time period and fully encapsulates the feeling of going to college (or university over here) for the first time. Taking place over a weekend in 1980, it follows Jake (Blake Jenner), a freshman who was a top pitcher for his high school baseball team, as he moves into a house he’ll be sharing with other members of the baseball team. Over the course of the weekend they get drunk, goof around, meet girls, cause a bit of trouble and play a little bit of baseball. It’s no surprise ‘Everybody Wants Some!!’ has been cited as a spiritual sequel to Linklater’s 70s set cult classic, ‘Dazed and Confused’.

Full disclosure here – I never liked ‘Dazed and Confused’ all that much when I watched it a few years ago, but ‘Everybody Wants Some!!’ has really made me want to revisit it. Like that film, ‘Everybody Wants Some!!’ features an ensemble cast, and only time will tell if the relatively unknown cast members here will go on to have such prolific careers as the alumni of ‘Dazed and Confused’ have. Structurally there isn’t much of a narrative here, with the primary focus purely on observing these characters as they enjoy their weekend and bond with one another. I liked pretty much all the characters which is unusual for any film, let alone a film about students, but it’s mainly down to the writing and the performances. Linklater really gets this time period and these characters, and it’s telling that in a short space of time each character has something we can define them by. Much like real life, we get to know these characters through their defining traits before we get to know them as people, and over the time period the film covers this feels very real.

‘Everybody Wants Some!!’ also has a terrific classic rock soundtrack (mixed with bits of disco) and it really helps to set the tone of the film. It’s very funny throughout, nostalgic in the best possible ways, and surprisingly insightful, with a talented cast who knock it out the park. Richard Linklater is an excellent director and he’s created a brilliant slice of life here, and it’s one of the most enjoyable films I’ve seen all year.

Rating: 4/5

Directed By: Richard Linklater

Starring: Blake Jenner, Zoey Deutch, Ryan Guzman, Tylor Hoechlin, Wyatt Russell, Glen Powell and Will Brittain

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2937696/