Everybody Wants Some!!

Starring: Blake Jenner, Juston Street, Tyler Hoechlin, Wyatt Russell, Glen Powell, Temple Baker, J. Quinton Johnson, Zoey Deutch, Will Brittain, Austin Amelio, Tanner Kalina, Forrest Vickery
Directed by: Richard Linklater
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy
2016

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: In the 1980s, a freshman baseball player (Blake Jenner) enters college and discovers friendship, love, and freedom.

Review:

Tim: Richard Linklater's Boyhood was my favorite movie of 2014, so I was very interested in seeing his follow-up, Everybody Wants Some!! Where his last movie ends with a kid going to college, this one starts with a guy entering college. This is a good movie, but it lacks the emotional depth and power of Boyhood. Still, I found this movie to be funny, entertaining, occasionally thought provoking, and well worth our time.

Honestly, the thing that stands out the most to me is the cast. I couldn't name a single actor by name, but every one of them seemed vaguely familiar. It was brilliant casting, because no actor took you out of the film, but it already felt like you knew these people. As our protagonist makes friends with the baseball team and an assortment of other collegians, it absolutely feels like we as the audience are likewise entering into this world. Linklater did a fantastic job of capturing what it was like during college- these years of opposites- you're carefree about so much of the world, yet you care so deeply about whatever you're into at college (baseball here, for example). You have this seemingly endless amount of freedom for the first time in your life, but you're not quite sure how to use it. You are ready to change, to be who you always wanted to be, but there's old baggage holding you back. Linklater captures this fragile, turbulent time exceptionally well. It felt like I was in college again, watching this film.

But, back to the cast. I didn't know Blake Jenner, but I'm told by my wife that he was on "Glee". Okay, so I don't know about that, but he did a fairly good job in the lead role. He was relatable enough, believable as a baseball player. He worked well. I loved seeing Tyler Hoechlin here, all grown up. I obviously remember him from Road to Perdition, but he was perfectly cast as the ultra competitive senior. He has a supporting role here, but he nails it and added so much to the film. I'm not sure what he has been doing, but I was very impressed with his acting. Wyatt Russell was good in a darkly comedic role, although I felt like his performance wavered between strong and over-the-top. Glen Powell absolutely blew me away. I'd seen him in a bunch of films, but always these small, nonessential roles. He was beyond incredible here, stealing every scene he was in. Powell was probably my favorite part of the entire film- he perfectly embodies that slightly older collegian who "has it all figured out". He's goofy but introspective, intelligent yet fun. His character was like lightning in a bottle and it was fascinating to watch. I don't know how much of this was Powell hitting a home run or Linklater masterfully pulling the performance out of him (probably both), but Powell's performance will be the thing I most remember about this movie. This film is a little over-focused on the dudes (which I get, it's about a baseball team), so Zoey Deutch is the only female who makes any kind of impact on the film. I thought she did a strong job and I wish she had more screen time. She's going to be an actress to keep on eye on- I suspect we'll see much more of her in the near future.

I feel like a lot of Linklater's films are "about" things, not stories that move from event to event. You may criticize that, but I believe he has a way of capturing real life in a fictional setting. In real life, not much happens day to day. This film isn't about what happens, it's about getting to know the characters and to watch them during this thin sliver of their lives. I had a lot of fun watching them.

Now, while this is a good movie, it had its share of flaws. While the story and film made me reminisce, I didn't feel a great emotional connection to any of the characters. Jenner was good in the lead role, but not good enough to make me truly care about him. The cast is huge, so we get less time with the truly effective characters, and too much time with the fringe, unessential ones. Deutch needed a bigger role and women needed to play a larger role in the film, besides hooking up with the characters in the margins of the frame. The movie was fun, but outside of Powell, it wasn't especially memorable. With Boyhood, Linklater gave us this beautiful, memorable contemplation of life and growing up. It felt like here, he just wanted to have fun and tell an entertaining story. I don't fault him for that, but the quality is different.

I enjoyed Everybody Wants Some!! and would recommend it to others. However, it doesn't give us enough to truly emerge from the fog of the hundreds of movies that came out in 2016. This one won't immediately come to mind, and when you hear about it a few years from now, you'll think, "Oh yeah, that was the college one, right? I think I liked that..." That's still good, but Linklater has proven he can do better.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Boyhood, Road to Perdition