Reviewer: Hannah Wales
Everybody Wants Some!! has been pitched as the spiritual sequel to Richard Linklater’s 1993 cult classic Dazed and Confused. That was set in a high school in 1976, whereas his latest outing follows a baseball team in college in 1980 – what’s also pretty similar is that not much happens in either.
The film basically just follows Jake (Blake Jenner from Glee) as he moves into the baseball house a few days before college starts and until class actually begins. He is a freshman recruit and has to learn the ways of the more senior boys, including Finnegan (Glen Powell), Roper (Ryan Guzman), Dale (Quinton Johnson), and McReynolds (Teen Wolf’s Tyler Hoechlin), to name just a few.
A lot of their escapades are with the sole intention of pulling women, getting high or generally having a wild time with their baseball bros. But Jake isn’t just about womanising– he has his eye on Beverly (Zoey Deutch).
There isn’t really a plot but that only becomes a problem in the final act when you wish it would get wrapped up. It should have been 15 minutes shorter and there are a lot of expendable team bonding scenes that could have been trimmed, although they were generally very fun. However, most of the time it is so entertaining and funny that you just roll with it. The script is so brilliantly witty, observant and laugh-out-loud hilarious. How much you enjoy this will depend on how old you are because the comedy will be more relatable to some over others.
It’s refreshing to have a film full of up-and-comers. There are a lot of TV people here who will be unknown faces to the general film-watching public, unless they are also fans of Teen Wolf, Pretty Little Liars, Glee, or Scream Queens. Nobody stands out as the lone star and it works well with that brotherhood dynamic. It is a strong
Left to right: Glen Powell plays Finnegan, Wyatt Russell plays Willoughby, Blake Jenner plays Jake, James Quinton Johnson plays Dale Douglas and Temple Baker plays Plummer in Everybody Wants Some by Paramount Pictures and Annapurna Pictures.
ensemble cast but Jenner, Powell and Deutch are slightly more captivating than others – Jenner is the eyes of the audience, being introduced into this new world with us, Powell is by far the funniest, and Deutch has a charming screen presence. There are a lot of characters and they are all radically different so watching them interact with each other is interesting. The parts were so well-written and brilliantly brought to life.
Above all else, the real star here is the music. The soundtrack is insane and you know you’re going to be in for a good time when a film opens with My Sharona by The Knack. The boys have plenty of nights out to various establishments so we get a taste of disco, country, rock – something for everyone.
While this isn’t life-changing nor unforgettable, it is a very enjoyable ride that had me cracking up regularly. It is far superior to Dazed and Confused in terms of enjoyment and narrative structure and I’ll be impressed if you don’t leave feeling the need to party.
Everybody Wants Some!! is in UK cinemas now!
