Review - Everybody Wants Some!!

Just over a week ago at Odeon’s Screen Unseen I was lucky enough to see Richard Linklater’s latest, Everybody Wants Some!!. Following his success with the groundbreaking drama Boyhood, Linklater shifts genres with a comedy that follows a team of 80s college baseball players who play hard both on and off the pitch.

Linklater has fittingly billed Everybody Wants Some!! as a “spiritual sequel” to the completely satisfying Dazed and Confused (1993) and its clear to see why. His 1993 film, set in the late 1970s focused on a rebellious group of teens celebrating the last days of high school. A couple of years later, his latest film shifts to the week leading up to the start of college for Jake (Blake Jenner), a gifted pitcher starting his freshmen year at Southern Texas University. The story seems simple at first look; Jake joins the university’s prestigious baseball team and their frat houses as they enjoy their final weekend together before school starts. Because the baseball season doesn’t start for months, we as the audience spend most of the time learning who the characters are and what drives them, with it seeming to be all about girls, alcohol and having a good time.

Upon his arrival to the house, with The Knack’s My Sharona fading away in the background, Jake is met by McReynolds (Tyler Hoechlin), a batter who isn’t afraid to show his hate for pitchers, however he does get on better with the other housemates. There’s the philosophical Finnegan, played by Glen Powell (Scream Queens) who attempts to score with the ladies by claiming he has an average-sized penis, and Willoughby (incredibly portrayed by Wyatt Russell) who is the resident stoner of the tea who rejects convention and tells Jake to “just be weird”. Over the course of the weekend, the team attends four different parties and Linklater presents a great cross-section of 1980s culture through them; disco is still beloved, country-western is making swift comeback and the head-banging sub-culture of punk is growing.

In most environments the jocks are the kings, but in others they are way out of their depth. Although most of the guys have the inability to talk to girls, what’s humorous is that whether a girl models a cowboy hat, a Mohawk or loves astrology, they’ll adapt in any way necessary to take advantage of the situation. Although it seems that its all about how many girls the guys can sleep with, a charming yet unlikely love story blossoms between Jake and Beverly (Zoey Deutch) a theatre major, as the film progresses. Unfortunately, the overall texture of the film and the trouble the boys get in over the course of it absorbs the romantic story between the two.

It would be so straightforward to categorize Everybody Wants Some!! as another stoner comedy and if it wasn’t for their individual quirks, the characters could be simply categorized too. However, the film is crammed with characters full of personality and what Richard Linklater does so well is give each their own spotlight. What also makes the film so brilliant is the simplicity of both the characters and the story and each audience member can walk out with their own favorite character and unique interpretation.

Some of its cast members are recognizable, Wyatt Russell from 22 Jump Street and Glen Powell of Scream Queens yet there are no big stars in it, and some even have no acting experience at all. It’s a glorious mix. The team is a hostile shuffling bulk of alliances with a real sense of togetherness, all stemming from the fact they are championship baseball team. It’s curiously stimulating when you finally get to see them play baseball at the first practice. Aside from talking about girls throughout, all they talk about is baseball and when we see them play, it’s intensely enjoyable and symbolic of one of the ways in which Linklater works by furtiveness.

One of Linklater’s many qualities is creating acquainted characters as a means of expression which works to its absolute best in Everybody Wants Some!!. The film is so well-crafted, it gives an honest depiction into how the world constantly moves around us, and the self-journey that one must take to simply live in the moment. By having this reflective layer running beneath, each scene is contextualized as a professed minute of self-awareness.

If the team was a bunch of misogynist, intolerable assholes, Everybody Wants Some!! would be a detestable watch. Much to the delight of the audience, each character is extremely lovable in their own way. Dazed and Confused made stars out of its cast; Matthew McConaughey and Ben Affleck, (amongst others) who were all unknown before working with Linklater. Here’s hoping that Everybody Wants Some!! will bring just as much success to both the director and its cast. As a whole, the ensemble cast is second to none with Powell, Hoechlin and Temple Baker as standout characters and it is safe to say Linklater has got his screenplay spot on.

You can catch this sharp, witty, nostalgic comedy in cinemas from Friday 13th May.