Everybody Wants Some!! (2016) User Reviews (191)

If the first ten minutes don't do it for you, it's not your type of humor

[movieholik · 7/10 · 22 September 2016]

I enjoyed this movie and love all of Linklater's works. Certain directors just mesh well with your world view and style. His humor works for certain people, and it doesn't translate well for international audiences. For instance, I can't stand Kevin Smith's style of comedy, but many people adore it.

This movie took me back to my college years. I attended the University of Texas and belonged to a fraternity. Although we weren't athletic jocks, there were similar dynamics, characters, and situations as with this movie's baseball team. Looking back it was immature and misogynistic fun, however it happened and I had great memories from then. This movie captured that very well.

That said, there was no tension or arc that this group faced. Everything came to them pretty easy, like on a silver platter. There are people like that in life, yet it doesn't make for compelling cinema. I also thought the lead had little chemistry or charisma with his girl. The character played by Glen Powell was the highlight, as was the soundtrack.

Hated it (at first glance). It grew on me (while watching)

[timschreier · 7/10 · 30 December 2016]

I had great hopes for this, ,knowing Linklater's work. I had great expectations also because I anticipated seeing "my" college era and experience through his lens and view. It did not resonate but I was never a part of a Fraternity or clique. What did sink in and where the movie turned for me was the realization that this was a film about discovery and how this group of misfits are finding their own identity. Once I got over the "Jock Talk" and realized that fact, I started to really like this movie. It was an interesting choice to select a group of Baseball players to serve as the vehicle to discovery and identity. It turned out this film did, in fact, resonate with me as I was a loner in college who had many friends who "belonged" to various groups, never once considering myself a part of any particular group. That diversity was one of the best value propositions I got out of my college experience. The quest for diversity was very well presented in this movie picture show.

Not awful but very obvious

[paul2001sw-1 · 6/10 · 28 June 2019]

In general, I'n not a fan for the films of Richard Linklater, but I will confess to having enjoyed 'Dazed and Confused', a sympathetic account of the last day in high school of a group of Texas teenagers in the 1970s. Aside from its brilliant title, that film was a non-judemental and unforced look at their lives; and in some ways, Linklater is back onto similar territory with 'Everybody Wants Some!!', which follows a group of first year students as they start college. But this movie did not do it for me. The characters are a group of male baseball scholars, and their stereotypical obsessions about sex, love of partying and general jockishness put me off; it's not just that I didn't like them, but also, their story arcs felt exagerrated given the entire film takes place over their first weekend. Also, for a film which is many ways has a realistic feel, eveveryone is far too good looking on average, and the male actors in particular are far too old.

Exactly what I needed

[cb2369 · 9/10 · 26 March 2016]

Everybody Wants Some!! was a perfect film for this moment: it consists of little more than a bunch of overly-competitive jocks joking with each other, partying, and trying to get laid over the course of three days before school even starts. It's intelligently written, fun, well-acted, and well-shot. What more could you ask for? Linklater, of course, does it all in a slice of life fashion: the opening of the film doesn't even attempt to describe what's going to happen and the end of the film barely describes what happened beforehand. The movie is almost meditative, and yet continually looking for stimulus in the largest and tiniest things... really whatever kind of stimulus they can get their hands on. Story-wise, it unfolds over almost every part of the era, which is, as far as I could tell, undefined yet seemingly somewhere during the 80s. Each night takes us to a different flavor of the time: disco, punk, you name it... but the genius of the script is that you don't really realize you've been given a tasting menu until you've already eaten everything. It just seems natural when it happens. Everything in this film seems natural, and that's a credit to the director, but also the actors. I imagine casting was the most important part of putting this film together and it seems to have been a success: every actor kills their part. Were they even acting? I have a feeling they were just being themselves. If you want to watch some kids mess around and laugh with them or at them, Everybody Wants Some!! not only is your movie, but probably will be your movie for a long time coming.

self-indulgent and pointless waste

[aapple2001 · 5 August 2016]

A film with no plot, no drama, no conflict, a comedy with no laughs, filled with male characters I couldn't care less about, female characters only there for eye candy and sex, and there's a sappy "Frontiers are where you find them" attempt at philosophy in the final scene.

So boring the characters themselves fall asleep at the end. By the way, that was the spoiler.

Maybe if you like early 80's music and hair styles, and people in their late 20's and early 30's pretending to be be 10 years younger while wearing shorts there's something for you. Otherwise don't be fooled by all the good reviews this title received. This movie goes nowhere and then the credits roll.

"Everybody Wants Some!!" is a waste of time.

a bit too much of the college jock life

[dmuel · 6/10 · 29 July 2016]

Yes, the movie was realistic and there were a few, sparse moments of tenderness between Jake and his romantic interest, but I was disappointed by the imbalanced focus of this movie. As most college students, then and now, are not hardcore jocks, this is a skewed vision of college life in that era. We get scant input from other groups on campus.

Compared to Dazed and Confused, which featured a much broader spectrum of teenage life in the mid 70s, including jocks, budding intellectuals, burn-outs, etc., Everybody Wants Some is mainly focused on college jock life and the pervasive misogyny one might expect. At times insightful, and also humorous, the movie simply observes the lives of its characters. But it pales compared to its predecessor, and the overwhelming emphasis on the misogynistic and competitive sexual exploits of its characters tends to fracture and efface the movie's charms.

Not about a decade - just an amazingly specific character study that takes place over 3 days in 1980

[tonyblass · 10/10 · 31 March 2016]

I went because I thought it would be an "80's Dazed and Confused." But it was so not that, so much better than that. I got to tell you about it. Whereas Dazed was a "generalized" version of the 70's (with a bit too much 90's still in the lens), this movie is about a highly specific group of people (college baseball jocks) at a very specific moment in time (3 days before the start of fall semester 1980, which any nerd can tell you is still technically, not to mention stylistically still very much part of the 70's) at a Texas university (presumably UT Austin). Where Dazed featured over-the-top wacky 70's characters who repeated "catch phrases", this movie is about some very real guys dealing with the transition from being the best athlete in their high school to just an average player at the bottom of the heap who has to get used to being humble and proving himself. Trust me. Go to see the movie that proves 12 years of making "Boyhood" has transformed Linklater to an auteur without peer. This movie is so perfectly in tune, light as a feather but with the full weight of an honest character study, played by an ensemble cast very much in tune with one another. Memorable characters for sure, but never overblown and always breathtakingly real. This is an amazing film. And the soundtrack is sheer perfection.

A fitting 'spiritual sequel' to Dazed and Confused

[tomgillespie2002 · 6/10 · 24 July 2016]

Fresh off the critical success of Boyhood, a coming-of-age project 12 years in the making, writer/director Richard Linklater has returned to the genre he no doubt by now feels entirely comfortable in, the slacker comedy. Dubbed as a 'spiritual sequel' to one of his most beloved movies, Dazed and Confused (1993), Everybody Wants Some!! - a title taken from a Van Halen song - follows a group of baseball jocks in college over the course of 3 days before class, and arguably real life, finally starts.

It's Texas, 1980, and freshman and promising pitcher Jake (Blake Jenner) arrives at one of the two decrepit neighbouring houses set aside for the college baseball team, where he is greeted with a mixture of both excited curiosity and suspicious disdain. Finnegan (Glen Powell), Dale (J. Quinton Johnson) and Roper (Ryan Guzman), a few of the older students who welcome Jake and fellow freshman Plummer (Temple Baker) with a bit more warmth, take the new arrivals on a car journey around campus, where they prepare themselves for a few days of booze, drugs, parties, and trying to convince members of the opposite sex to sleep with them.

Linklater has a distinct feel for a sense of place. Like Dazed and Confused, he somehow manages to conjure up feelings of nostalgia for viewers who weren't even alive at the time. Having been born in 1984, I sadly wasn't there for the 1976 of Dazed or the 1980 of Everybody Wants Some!!, but the two films feel as if you're watching something made at the time rather than a period piece. Questionable fashion choices and even more questionable facial-hair are all present here, as is the obligatory classic soundtrack. which features an amusing rendition of Rapper's Delight amongst a more rock-based sound. The biggest issue people may have the film is that nothing much happens at all, so Linklater takes a huge gamble in assuming audiences will warm to its hefty ensemble.

After all, the bulk of the characters are indistinguishable jocks doing bong hits and offering their unique blend of wisdom for the majority of the film. While this approach may run its course before the credits roll, there is some genuine wisdom to be found here, along with a tinge of sadness. Everybody Wants Some!! is a love letter to that time of your life when you are filled with optimism and the world is yours to explore, and Jake and his friends' journey of discovery and fulfilment is a rite-of-passage experienced by most young men and women. It could also be interpreted as a search for identity as the group wander from their usual disco haunt and try out line-dancing, a punk concert, and a themed costume party set up by performing arts majors, including the auburn-haired girl of Jake's dreams (Zoey Deutch). Call it what you will, but the film's power lies within Linklater's eye for nostalgia, delivering a final shot that captures more feeling than most films struggle to create in 90 minutes.

Criminally Underrated!

[justin-32864 · 9/10 · 1 June 2022]

Preface, Richard Linklater has a very unique style of directing. In his more spirited films, Slacker, Dazed and Confused, and now Everybody wants Some; Linklater finds a way to make you enjoy a film that doesn't necessarily have a plot. In each of those 3 amazing movies he's directed, the movies just follow the characters as they develop, without a generic or mainstream plot. It's extremely refreshing to get kind of a lackadaisical, orderless and adaptive type plot.

The movie follows a bunch of college baseball players who will fully commit and do anything to have a good time. Everything they do becomes a competition between themselves.

It won't be everyone's type of humor, but this movie is hilarious and it's an easy watch. I highly recommend this movie! It's extremely underrated.

ground rule double instead of a grand slam

[1-0 · 6/10 · 10 April 2016]

Fun movie. To believe director Richard Linklater's "spiritual sequel" to DAZED & CONFUSED, you'd think going to college was a free ticket to girls, beer and nightly all-niters. And hey, it kind of is, right? Except for the classes. And the awkwardness. Or social failings of any kind. I guess those wouldn't have made for such an entertaining movie though.

All of that is to say that while EVERYBODY WANTS SOME is fun, it isn't exactly true to life, even while offering an authentic look at 1980- era young adulthood. The characters are a baseball team, conveniently rooming in their own pair of off-campus quasi-frat houses: there's the wide-eyed freshman pitcher, the upperclassmen who love hazing and boozing almost as much as they love balls and strikes, the misfit 30-year old stoner (remember, this is Linklater we're talking about), the p-whipped hick.... you get the picture-- it's essentially an Animal House-style ensemble cast where the audience never gets a chance to tire of any one character in particular. Further, because the writing avoids clichés for the most part, each character gets a few good punchlines, and chances to endear himself to the viewer.

And I emphasize HIM-self. Despite the fact that I heard girls chuckling at jokes in the theater, this movie is basically about boys, in college, age 18-22. Lots of scenes about various kinds of male bonding. Others about various forms of competition and/or one- up-man-ship. I wouldn't go so far as to say the movie is sexist, but it's certainly biased towards a male perspective.

All of that said, the characters are like-able. The apparent protagonist, a young pitcher by the name of Jake (All-American looking Blake Jenner), arrives a few days before classes at a Texas university to meet his teammates and new (well-stocked) abode. He's a nice kid with lots of talent, a great smile, and a way with girls. Just like all his teammates. Throughout the film, he scores at the disco, entrances young lasses at the C&W bar, slam dances at the punk show, and just generally aces life. He even wins the heart of a young drama student (played by Zoey Deutch) the day before classes start. Talk about an overachiever!

His teammates run the gamut from witty/charming (Finnegan, in an effortlessly funny performance by Glen Powell) to jockish (Tyler Hoechlin's McReynolds -- a great baseball name to be sure) to a mixture the two. The weirdest character is probably Jay (Juston Street), an over-compensating, aggro pitcher who constantly brags about his fastball and major-league talent. Still, the team members work well and play off each other, and again Linklater demonstrates his ability to assemble a great cast of mostly unknown actors who not only gel, but come off as fun, likable dudes.

The problem is this: there's no real story. Some stuff happens -- mostly fun stuff, to be sure, but I could probably sum up the plot of the movie by saying young, attractive athletes score chicks in a variety of situations pretty easily. Entertaining enough, maybe (especially if you're a hot dude), but compared to DAZED & CONFUSED (or this movie's *real* spiritual partner ANIMAL HOUSE), it comes off a bit one-dimensional. The boys go from one party to the next, making out well pretty much every time -- I kept waiting for the conflict, the consequence, the B part to all the A parts, but it never happened.

In truth, the movie felt like one, long first act. I could almost see this as part of some massive cycle where the next installment would be a 90-minute come-down: bad 2nd dates, hangovers, failed classes, losing seasons. Call me cynical, but even college kids have bad days.

Or course, I might be expecting too much. This movie takes place in 1980 (and rightly, retains a lot of the 70s in its look/feel), so if you judge its story and characters by the kinds of flicks college kids flocked to back then -- PORKY'S, REVENGE OF THE NERDS, ANIMAL HOUSE -- it comes off as intelligently written with good performances. But even NERDS had conflict. Hell, one of bros at ANIMAL HOUSE partied harder *and* bedded the mayor's wife.

Ultimately, I enjoyed this movie. I might even be into a sequel, if it promised a little more character depth, and a story arc that actually, er, arc'd. EVERYBODY WANTS SOME is a good time, and not much more. From a different director that might be enough, but from Linklater, it feels like a ground-rule double instead of a grand slam.

Another rigged set of reviews and ratings...

[jlipin · 4/10 · 25 April 2016]

I can't stand when ratings/reviews are rigged in order to get people to watch or buy something. If you look at the 'top 1000 voters' for this movie, which are people who actually watch movies, they give it a 6.9. How in the heck did this get an 8+? (Well - it's because the movie producers were smart and got a bunch of people to review and rate the movie ahead of time...) The acting and writing is dreadful. Story goes absolutely nowhere and is pointless. I was at least hoping the water bed had something to do with anything. But of course, it didn't. Actors look like they're 35 years old, and you want us to believe they're college freshmen? Has the director ever been to a bar before or seen how awkward real people interact with each other at that age? Does the director know that people at bars or at parties are usually drunk, instead of the eloquently speaking, perfectly-dressed people in this movie? Really pointless, waste of a good amount of money to have seen this in theaters.

"Frontiers Are Where You Find Them"

[paul-allaer · 9/10 · 22 April 2016]

"Everybody Wants Some!!" (2016 release; 116 min.) brings the story of a group of baseball players on a Texas college team. As the movie opens, The Knack's "My Sherona" is blasting away in a guy's car. That turns out to be Jake, an incoming Freshman and pitcher. The big screen reminds us that it is "August 28, 1980, Classes start in 3 days". Jake is getting to know the rest of the Baseball House that he is sharing with seven other guys. When they decide to take a drive and try to pick up girls, one mystery girl informs them she likes the quiet guy in the back (pointing to Jake). At this point we're not even 15 min. into the movie but to tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: first, this is the latest movie from Texas writer-director Richard Linklater, who most recently brought us the brilliant "Boyhood", and much earlier "Dazed and Confused" (set in high school in 1976). It is an easy case to make that "Everybody Wants Some!!" is a spiritual sequel to that movie. The movie's trailer gave the impression that this is an all-out funny, possibly rowdy college-age coming-of-age, and there certainly is plenty of that. But there is so much more to this movie. I love how Linklater lets the scenes develop with uninterrupted shots that at times go on for minutes. Pay careful attention to what life was like in 1980 (no smart phones, no craft beer, etc.). Linklater was 20 at that time (as was I), and he captures it perfectly. As was the case in "Dazed and Confused", this movie features an ensemble cast that surely contains future stars. I'm pretty sure those will include Brian Jenner (playing the Jake character, and previously best known for his recurring role on the TV show Glee) as well as Zoey Deutsch, in the role of Beverly, the mystery girl I referred to. Deutsch is the daughter of Lea Thompson and the physical resemblance is uncanny (and very easy on the eyes). Last but certainly not least, the film features dozens and dozens of killer tunes from that era, from "My Sherona" in the beginning to the Cars' "Let the Good Times Roll" over the end credits. The scenes in the Sound Machine disco tent are among the many highlights of the movie. Bottom line: I felt like this movie was literally made FOR ME, as I was those guys (setting aside the baseball aspects).

The movie opened this weekend on a couple of screens in Greater Cincinnati, and having seen the trailer, I couldn't wait to see it. The Friday early evening screening where I saw this at turned out t be a private screening, as in: I literally was the only person in the theater. Say what?? I couldn't believe it. I will go see any movie by Richard Linklater simply on the strength of his name and the blind faith in his talent. If you are in the mood for a nostalgic yet very realistic look back at what life was like in late August of 1980, you cannot go wrong with this movie. "Everybody Wants Some!!" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Not Terrible but Not a Worthy Successor to Dazed and Confused

[thumbworn · 6/10 · 14 July 2016]

As a fan of Dazed and Confused, when I found out about this film I was ecstatic but it just doesn't deliver; I really wanted it to be great but it never really gets there. The characters are mostly forgettable and not even overly likable. At times it seems like a bad copy of Dazed and Confused, with lines like "that's what I'm talking' about" repeated and characters such as the coach (who seems like a carbon copy of the assistant coach from Dazed and Confused) and Finnegan (who seems very much like an attempt to replicate McConaughey's Wooderson). It's set in the 80s but there really isn't an 80s experience here like Dazed and Confused delivered. Dazed and Confused gave us a look at the cars and some of the iconic things about the 70s, as well as experiences that gave the viewer a look at what being a teen in the 70s may have been like, but Everybody Wants Some never really delivers any of that. The performances here aren't bad (with the exception of one character who, to me, seemed like a parody) and it's not a terrible movie, it just lacks the magic of Dazed and Confused and in the end it's really just a flat film that never really gets the viewer excited or delivers. Of course, this is just my opinion and you may really enjoy it, so check it out yourself and form your own opinion because it's at least worth seeing once.

Everybody Wants Less!

[sage4676 · 5/10 · 16 April 2016]

I would give it a 1 if I didn't enjoy the music. I started college in the 80's so I know what it was like. This is basically totally about some baseball jocks that are getting together and "male bonding" before classes actually start. With all the positive, and I must say idiotic reviews of the film, my expectations were probably way too high. There are a few moments of chuckles and laughter but if you have zero interest in baseball and aren't a past sport jock, this film is not for you. The background music was right on for the eighties and the party stuff was funny. Other than that, it just gets boring and too long. All the actors are "unknown" types and do fine job acting, but the storyline is a total mess. Is this a comedy or some type of sports, jock film or whatever? Many critics say it is a statement about the 80's and will be appreciated later. TO be appreciated later it needs to better at anything.

I am only glad that we didn't pay top dollar to see this one and this is one I will never purchase or look forward to seeing again. I just want less of this crap. If you are determined to see this, wait for cable or broadcast. Not worth anyones money.

One of the smartest comedies in years.

[JohnDeSando · 18 April 2016]

"Don't be afraid to let the experience find you." Willoughby (Wyatt Russell)

Everybody Wants Some!! is a real comedy, not some reality show knock off about college athletes gone bad. It's 1980, it feels like 1980, and the kids are full of 1980's optimism expressed in their passion for baseball and hot chicks. The "experience" the very high, hippie philosopher Willoughby promotes in the quote above comes for most at college, where new experiences find and transform.

The hero is Jake (Blake Jenner), a freshman pitcher joining the rest of the college baseball team in one of their two houses provided off campus, conveniently unsupervised. He represents the youthful idealism of a former high-school star athlete on scholarship at a small south Texas college. Linklater's plot is so charmingly rambling, like his favorite pinball motif, that character development is acceptably absent. With the pastiche of pranks that serve as episodes, seriousness can't prevail anymore than it did in Linklater's classic, Dazed and Confused.

The most interesting character has to be Finn (Glen Powell), the ladies' man spouting Linklater aphorisms like the one above. He's a woman-con who nevertheless comes out with thoughts for life amidst his clowning.

What makes this film different is that from the beginning these wisecracking jocks know they're not going to be picked up by the pros, but they still talk about that happening with the right realistic attitude. Director Richard Linklater, coming off his Oscar-nominated Boyhood, in which he showed unique insight into a growing boy, now paints a portrait of young men quickly transitioning into men who know what's up.

During this coming of age story, the players play at college life with the same gusto they show for their sport, not always scoring but always in pursuit, as if both games were evidence of their right to success, an American characteristic to be sure. Seeing a possible scout painting a house near the playing field, the realization is that he may not be a scout. All everybody can infer is it's good to be ready when any of life's "scouts" should come by.

The wit is omnipresent and occasionally brilliant, evidenced by these two insults: dipshitification and fuckwithery—used more than once to put someone down and toughen up at the same time.

Amidst Twilight Zone VHS's, Van Halen, and Carl Sagan, Linklater has returned us to 1980). And dare I say it, gives a good name to nostalgia.

One of the best feel good movies I've seen in years

[sammyboo21-999-252517 · 10/10 · 25 April 2016]

Richard Linklater just gets me.All his films are about a time and place. They are about living in the moment and in Everybody Wants Some the moment is right before college in the 80s.I wont give you the plot but I will tell you that this smart raunchy funny and endearing comedy about a group of college guys is something to behold. Its a beautiful movie and im still talking about an R Rated Comedy about college baseball players. The humor is real and natural.I know people like these characters.I've joked like this and have had deep conversations like they do in the film. The actors have great chemistry. They can joke and party and yet they can still have philosophical talks about life and what it all means. You follow these characters over the span of 3 days and by the end of the film you just want to follow them throughout the year. The closing scene is just true and wonderful.If I had a weekend like the characters did then I would be doing the same thing. You'll know what I'm talking about when you see it. Its small yet says so much. Also stay till near the end there is a musical number that is pretty great. Everybody wants some!! is one of the best movies of the year!! ***** out of 5.

VIEWS ON FILM review of Everybody Wants Some!!

[burlesonjesse5 · 6/10 · 17 April 2016]

Without a shadow of a doubt, Richard Linklater is a very distinctive filmmaker. He's the guy who shot 2001's Tape in real time (via a cramped hotel room). He's the dude that made Boyhood (sequential-like) over a twelve year period letting his actors age naturally. Finally, he's responsible for the trippy, A Scanner Darkly (you know, the flick where all human characters are transferred into animation). With Everybody Wants Some!! (my latest review), Linklater trades innovation for nostalgia all the while trying to recapture the magic from his early 1990's masterpiece, Dazed and Confused. The results like your typical screwdriver (a cocktail featured in "Wants Some!!"), are mixed at best.

Now you're probably wondering if I'm gonna make comparisons between Everybody Wants Some!! and "Dazed". Guess what, I am. Both films are indeed similar. They are both light on plot (but heavy on the pot), both take place over thirty years ago (the mid-70's and the early 80's respectively), both flicks bring Linklater back to his Texas roots, both involve a kaleidoscopic snapshot of an era, and both are cast with young, little-known actors (who knew McConaughey and Zellweger would make it so big, ha). Here's the difference though: Everybody Wants Some!! doesn't have troupers in it that are as affable, the writing/acting in "Wants Some!!" isn't as sharp as it is in Dazed and Confused, there isn't as much genuine humor as there is in "Dazed", and Ben Affleck's Fred O'Bannion is nowhere to be found (talk about one of the great bullies in cinematic history). In truth, it may be justified but to call Everybody Wants Some!! a poor man's Dazed and Confused, is a little harsh. I mean it does have some veritable moments. So I guess just think of it more as "Dazed's" menial stepchild, "Dazed's" naive little brother, or a dragged out version of "Dazed".

The synopsis of "Wants Some!!" (or lack thereof) is told loosely through the eyes of (freshman) college baseball player, Jake (played by newcomer Blake Jenner). You see Jake has three days to kill before fall semester starts. Within the confines of a small Texas university, he meets his teammates in a rundown house right off of campus. From there, chaos ensues with these horndog adolescents integrating Jake while showing him how they party their own, plated asses off. We meet other freshmen on the team, a transferring pitcher who's a couple cards short of a full deck, and a star hitter who can slice a baseball clean through with one swing of an ax (great scene). Granted, we only see the athletes inhabit about fifteen minutes on screen playing America's pastime. The other 100 involves them getting inebriated at a discotheque, a country bar, a punk bar, and various socials near college grounds. I gotta admit, most of the male actors in Everybody Wants Some!! sometimes annoyed me. They tried too hard to be witty and invariably, tried too hard to dazzle the audience. At about the hour and a half mark, their arrogance became totally aromatic. I wanted to plead with them to please just shut up!

With a movie title obviously inspired by a Van Halen song (of the same name), "Wants Some!!" is amusing for I guess, its first act. Linklater as expected, gives the film an exceptional sense of time and place. His direction is well assured and his musical soundtrack pounds relentless with great bubble gum and AOR hits. But as hazily effective and authentically relapsed as Everybody Wants Some!! usually is, it still showcases two hours of its college caricatures drinking heavily, smoking the reefer, trying frantically to get laid, and ragging on each other. That gets old fast. "Everybody" in the theater will wonder how much more they can truly take. Rating: 2 and a half stars.

Of note: If you choose to take in a viewing of "Wants Some!!", look for the great Kurt Russell's son (Wyatt Russell) and Lea Thompson's daughter (Zoey Deutch) in supporting roles. They are in jest, the most likable people in the movie. Oh and they are literally the spitting image of their parents. This accounts for looks, mannerisms, and overall voice. Also, watch for a scene in which Russell's kid takes some big bong hits and gets all philosophical to the workings of Pink Floyd's "Fearless". I wonder what Snake Plissken would think of that!

Linklater can do no wrong

[drk-42423 · 9/10 · 5 January 2017]

Just saw this movie for the 2nd time and I loved it even more than the first time. Just like every Linklater picture, it is so rewatchable. I enjoyed so much being in this world with these characters. Every single one of them is fully drawn out. Linklater is a magician, someone that has mastered his craft to the fullest extent.

The cast is great. Glen Powell was the stand out for me, he was excellent. Not far behind him was Wyatt Russell who is establishing himself as an exciting up and coming talent.

This was my favorite sports movie since Warrior. I loved everything about it.

A Nostalgic Blast!

[namashi_1 · 7/10 · 27 June 2016]

Richard Linklater reigns supreme with his latest offering 'Everybody Wants Some!!'. Right after delivering the masterful Boyhood, Linklater, this time, delivers an anti-plotted tale on the kids of the 1980's. Its all heart & soul!

'Everybody Wants Some!!' Synopsis: A group of college baseball players navigate their way through the freedoms and responsibilities of unsupervised adulthood.

'Everybody Wants Some!!' celebrates the spirit of being young. Its about knowing the innocence & being free, despite surroundings. Its indeed fun to watch the characters here speak it out, then drink, then get laid & even try to be rebellious. Linklater observed the mood of the 80's himself & hence, the setting as well as the nostalgic feeling, are spot-on!

Linklater's Screenplay is winsome, while His Direction, is superb, as ever. Linklater's versatility comes even more on the front with 'Everybody Wants Some!!'. The Performances are Remarkabe too. Blake Jenner is a talent to watch out for. He's very good! Zoey Deutch looks gorgeous & is very natural. Ryan Guzman is first-rate. All the others actors also deliver credibly.

On the whole, 'Everybody Wants Some!!' is a good time at the movies. Watch It!

A fun time with some fun characters

[maripere95 · 9/10 · 6 April 2016]

This movie not only captures the 80s perfectly, but it also creates a comedy that has the same spirit as a comedy that would have come out in the 80s. It is lighthearted, and just like Dazed and Confused, it does not rely on plot but of the joy of following these characters in their day-to-day lives (or in this case the first couple days before college classes start). The jokes are not forced, and you just constantly feel giddy throughout the movie, because you feel as though they are genuinely enjoying themselves - and by extension, so is the audience. The outfits are hilarious (men crop tops and short shorts) but still feel authentic to the time and the characters. The movie features many stars in the making, and by doing so, you care more about the characters instead of big actor names. Richard Linklater does it once again in capturing the human spirit, instead of trying to make it event/plot-heavy but instead focus on human spirit and simply having a good time.

Disappointing

[teddyryan · 6/10 · 28 July 2018]

EVERYBODY WANTS SOME feels much less a companion piece to BOYHOOD (as Richard Linklater has stated) than a reshaping of the iconic DAZED AND CONFUSED. Shots, events and character types of both movies show us the antics of unsupervised young adults run wild, although now the setting is college - not high school (I would liken it to the Goodfellas/Casino relationship). As a result, it's impossible to watch or rate Everybody Wants Some without comparing to its 1993 predecessor.

The different characters from Everybody Wants Some (and the actors they play them), however, aren't as vibrant as the ones from Dazed And Confused, making it a far from a masterpiece. Not to mention, Linklater (who is known for his impeccable authenticity in casting) cast the oldest-looking group of 25/30 year old actors you could find, making it hard to buy them as college kids.

Furthermore, the lead - a confident baseball player arriving for his first year on campus - played by Blake Jenner - falls disappointingly short of the typical Linklater hero. The whole script, which follows Jenner and an overabundant number of his college baseball teammates, does have a few moments to grab laughs but it keeps being dragged down by its lack of personalities. That being said, Linklater has the remarkable ability to find the truth in young adult life and verbalize it unlike most fictional storytellers and he delivers here. Unfortunately, in contrast to his high calibre of work, he's fallen a little off the base with this one.

Ted's Grade: A disappointing B minus for an A student.

Why these choices?

[mmaggiano · 3/10 · 23 April 2016]

If you're going to make a movie about Texas college baseball jocks in 1980 (especially jocks on the most successful team on campus), you're obliged to do something to let the audience know WHY those players are the most gentle, open-minded college jocks they have ever, ever seen. It can't just go unexplained, or it beggars belief. The movie is not intended to be a farce, quite clearly.

Even the two most aggressive guys (the great batter and the manic pitcher) are ultimately adorably harmless. This is not how it works. Their conflict at a practice without coaches should end in a fistfight when the manic pitcher won't shut up after getting beat. You don't run your mouth at a teammate after getting hit on. The manic pitcher's outburst in the bar should also be far, far uglier, and it should end in a real fight. And the stuff that comes out of their mouths most of the time should be filthy as hell. I am NOT objecting to "gentle comedy" as a genre. I'm objecting to the total lack of appropriate set-up in this one, and the ensuing unbelievability.

And I'm not faulting the characters for being horny, drunk 21 year olds (played by mostly 30 year olds, for putatively some good reason, but really because 21 year old actors wouldn't be able to handle the house of cards Linklater has set up here). I don't think that young men are monsters for getting laid and drinking on a free weekend before college. (There are complaints about this movie from some corners of the internet that have "liberal puritan double-standard" written all over them. I am not coming from that corner.) But having played college sports myself, and known other college athletes at the time and since, this is the LEAST awful group of 16 college jocks that I can possibly imagine, and the movie is set in 1980 Texas. They may as well be unicorns.

I understand that this is supposed to be a gentle, philosophical comedy, and I have no problem with that in theory. I would definitely watch a movie where a given collection of jocks are great human beings, just out of the sheer creative audacity of seeing where that goes, and the things you can do with genres that depict an idealized world. But I don't want to watch idealized college athletes (or any other group) unless I have some damn reason to know why there aren't horrible human beings in that mix of 16 guys. The answer can't just be "because the genre is gentle, thoughtful comedy". Give me something with a piece of verisimilitude that I can hang onto. 16 golfers at Brown in 2016 have worse people among them than this.

So, oddly akin to The Revenant or Boyhood, the movie doesn't work as realism, nor does it work as something heightened; on top of that it has 1-dimensional characters. I don't want to see Acclaimed Director, the movie. Every movie must stand or fall on its own.

ULTIMATELY MORE IMPORTANTLY, this weekend-before-college movie (like any slice-of-life type of movie) will sink or swim on the quality of the bits, the moments, the character sketches. If each scene or moment is golden, all is forgiven, and it lives on in the way that The Big Sleep or Short Cuts or Day for Night or The Big Lebowski are great movies. In those, perfect scene-by-scene charm wins the day. Truth through Beauty.

But in this particular movie, some of the bits, scenes, characters etc. are very good, while others are wholly bland, vague and threadbare. Could 'philosophizing jocks' get it right some times, and wrong some times, and just have some sophomoric marijuana ideas sometimes- sure, yes, why not? BUT EACH one of those scenes of 'philosophizing jocks' has to be somehow really interesting without feeling overly polished, or phony, or done to death, or otherwise uncharming. It's a pure fancy-footwork kind of storytelling art. And half of the bits/scenes in this movie have two left feet.

This is the second movie in a row from Linklater that is not about real life or real people but purports to be, while using facile characters and after-lunch philosophizing. The first, Boyhood, was a full-throttle melodrama with a grand gimmick. This one plays one sport with the equipment of another: College Hump-or-Die movie rules, but with handmade character comedy gear. If you don't see this, let me ask you one question: WHAT is it that makes the main character Jake a SPECIFIC person who hits it off with Beverly, another specific person, besides the genre fulfillment of 'the two sensitive people find each other'??

Nothing. Nothing but Blake Jenner and Zoey Deutch saying the lines with talent. Can you say that about Say Anything, or are those two characters specific as hell, and therefore a response to the High School Hump-or-Die movies, and not just a mutant version of one? Heck, college farce Animal House, the ultimate Hump-or-Die movie, has more to say than this movie does.

I'm now positive that Linklater is one director when working with actor/writers Hawke and Delpy, and quite another when he's not.

Chill out movie

[carbonxenon · 10/10 · 29 June 2020]

I've watched it almost 10 times. Everytime it was time full of calmness and coolness.

Dazed and Confused Boyhood 2

[danielharden · 6/10 · 3 May 2016]

For a movie centred around a bunch of Baseball players, it does take a bloody long time for them to play baseball. Everybody Wants Some!! is one of those few movies that have zero complication at all, instead being 2 hours of drinking, partying, "the old in and out" and just having a good old time.

The film essentially has no story what so ever. A baseball team do conventional teen antics until class begins... That's it. Although Narritively the film goes nowhere particularly it will never bore you as, being young and kinda dumb, the team attend a variety of crazy parties and spend their free time doing all sorts of random activities while talking about philosophical stuff. The film aims to deliver messages about individuality and competitive American masculinity. It's more about what the film is saying rather than what its doing.

The unknown ensemble cast was great. Everyone as good as each other and creating extremely believable chemistry and friendship between them all. They bounce off one another throughout the film and the film is centred and lives off them bonding together as a team. The acting allows the film to work.

Richard Linklater's film also utilises the nostalgia of the 80's. Sadly, me being born later meant that this nostalgia was lost on me personally, but for anyone whose around 40 this film should have an awe of nostalgia around its time setting, costumes and music soundtrack etc.

Overall Everybody Wants Some!! is a well acted and nostalgic movie that doesn't really go anywhere in its narrative story but also delivers meaningful messages you'd expect to see in a coming-of-age teen film. Its like a sort of sequel to Dazed and Confused and Boyhood... That is if Dazed and Confused where in the 80's and if Boyhood was set 30-40 years earlier and picked up immediately where it left off.

A Dazed and Confused Repeat

[cmjenks · 5/10 · 15 April 2016]

Going in, I knew it would be similar to Dazed and Confused. This was like Fifty Shades of Grey is to Twilight but worse, the plot (if you can call it that) follows its predecessor more closely than Fifty.

Like Dazed (which is better btw), it's tough to put your finger on an actual plot. A freshman baseball player shows up to college, interacts with teammates/roommates, has fun, finds a girl. Shenanigans take place. So all you really have is a bit of character development, yet the characters remain relatively static.

I have to wonder, Who the heck has been reviewing this flick, paid shills? People that haven't seen Dazed and Confused and think this is unique?

Here are some of the characters to expect: Token well balanced protagonist, Token reefer head, Token self-absorbed whack job, Token witty womanizer, Token redneck, Token guy who is too old to be hanging out (same as reefer head), Token black guy, Token uber-competitive leader, Token immature character, Token below-average intellect character

I honestly can't believe they wrote in another character with an age problem--someone must have been a having a creative black void when this came to be. Another thing that didn't evolve since Dazed - misogynistic attitudes. Most of the women are portrayed as easy and air-headed, except the protagonist's love interest who the scriptwriters actually force the character to say is bright (unlike all the other airheads.) This type of portrayal is growing a bit tired. Give the female characters a voice, it would have been so much more interesting, especially given the time frame.

Pass on this one. Sure, it's about nothing and you'll leave with a feeling of nothingness. The guys are good looking and witty, their shenanigans are charming albeit not unique, beneath the wit and charm is the stink of douchiness. So what?