Dazed And Confused

Dazed And Confused

The high school classics that are all about growing up as a teenager have all come to have their own defining characteristics that separate them from the rest of the pack yet they remain united in the shared display of TRUTH that they all bring to the table.  Richard Linklater’s 1993 opus (perhaps the single best movie he will ever make, and he knows it) is certainly not the BEST of the bunch for various reasons, but yet still remains among the elite in this subgenre even while not quite having either the analytic introspection of Breakfast Club, the day to day dramatics of Fast Times, nor the wicked satire of both Heathers and Election, but what it does possess is something even less amazingly tangible, which is despite having two major missteps in the casting process of the film (in lead roles no less!), the film manages to achieve that incredibly rare vibe of being able to take ANY viewer (no matter what their current age) and somehow transport them back to their own memories of their teenage years as if almost to relive them, based partly on the realism of the writing and acting, partly on the filmmaking style that gives us the impression of moving amongst the different groups and / or types of people that most of us can say we actually KNEW, and partly on the use of timeless classic rock of the 70s which infuses the viewer with that feeling of freedom and youth that is carried all the way through the film with the characters onscreen.  While many have described this as being an “all star cast of future stars” (which was true of Fast Times), this is actually more of a cast consisting of only 2 future A list major movie stars and a slew of others who can best be described as having been either those who went on to have had solid character acting careers or others who have since faded out entirely from the acting scene altogether after having had their one shot of glory in this film, but they all interact and work seamlessly together here, presenting an environment that is so incredibly accurate where despite the various differences these kids might have with each other at times, they are all united by their common age range and by their familiarity with the pangs of uncertainty that they are all going through.  Indeed, Linklater shot the entire film in the suburbs of Austin, Texas, and used all of the filmmaking resources at his disposal to recruit locals for the cast and crew and in many ways to get the nowadays prominent artistic community there up and running based almost solely on this film’s major success.  Likewise, Linklater was so determined to get each and every actor into the right proper state of mind for filming that he handed each and every one of them a list of what popular rock music albums that each of their CHARACTERS would always enjoy listening to, certainly a step above and beyond the call of duty for preparing his cast even if the actual writing and character development (mostly for the female roles) was not always up to snuff as quite being on a John Hughes type level.  There’s not so much a story here as there is a time and a place, that being the last day of school before the summer of 1976 in a small suburban town where everything seems to revolve around the fortunes of the local high school football team since that is the only thing that the locals really have to care about to make their existence worthwhile.  Several plot threads are followed over the course of the film, most notably the high school football coaches seemingly forcing their players to sign some sort of a “pledge” to not do any drugs or alcohol over the course of the summer and upcoming season for the betterment of the team, one which every player willingly signs with a wink and a smile, with the exception of the star quarterback, Randall “Pink” Floyd (Jason London), a kind of everyman character at the school in that he hangs out with, is friends with, and is in some way a part of every social clique in his class of seniors, but being a big drug and alcohol person like his fellow players, decides not to sign the pledge and risks being thrown off the team (a major paradox for the coaches as they themselves risk being crucified over cutting their best player over something stupid like this).  As it is, London is the first (although minor) example of miscasting in the film as Floyd, even as the writing conforms more to the actor than it does to the character, as Floyd is not portrayed as a team leader type as he would really actually be, but more of a passive follower whose overall look, body type, and demeanor are not at all believable for someone in his position in life, with London coming off more as a spoiled, privileged poser who seems to feel oppressed over something that is really nothing (which is even pointed out by his girlfriend) and may even be using his refusal to sign the pledge as just an excuse to walk away from the team and having to play football again due to his general disinterest in competing anymore even if it means that he could lose half of his friends and might now even be a marked man by his ex teammates, when truthfully in real life the quarterback would probably be the first one to laugh and sign off on it while encouraging the others to do so as well, and maybe the script having the “holdout” so to speak be either a star running back or receiver might have played out a little bit better.  In addition, we have the running plotline of it being hazing time for the incoming freshmen, with the girls having to be publicly humiliated in the school parking lot by having themselves covered with ketchup, mustard, verbal abuse, and other various things, while the males are subjected to being chased down like dogs, thrown against a wall, and being subjected to brutal paddle whippings at the hands of the seniors led by the sadistic O’Bannion, played by Ben Affleck with such a jacked up sense of testosterone fueled psychotic intensity that he far and away steals the movie from any of the other actors in the conventional sense, loving and attacking his “job” with such a perversely smiling glee that you can almost root for him to nail some of the smartass little punk freshmen characters, which unfortunately means that in the key role of the freshman whose coming of age amongst the popular kids is where much of the focus of the film is on, we are forced to accept Wiley Wiggins as Mitch Kramer, not so much someone that we can all relate to at that age but rather a very creepy looking, androgynous type whose constant whining and effeminate mannerisms should make him appear to be someone who would not only NOT be accepted by all of the seniors even after getting his ass paddled, but conceivably as a senior would still never be considered even remotely “cool” nor even so much as do something such as playing football like all of the older guys who have seemingly “adopted” him as one of their own (although to be fair it is pointed out that he does have a hot senior sister so all the adulation he seems to get from them might not only be completely false solely in order to impress her, but it’s certainly also possible that they might actually share the same contempt for him as the viewer does, even as he is laughably paired up with a woefully unattractive sophomore girl).  But amazingly, despite Wiggins’ piss poor acting and an absolutely awful “revenge” scene at Affleck’s expense that plays off as being more of a fantasy wish fulfillment sequence that otherwise breaks up the strictly realistic, down to Earth nature of the whole piece, the film moves along rather smoothly, using the passage of time over the 24 hour period to further the events that we see, as a big keg party at one cool kid’s house gets sadly broken up before the other characters mill around for a bit, ultimately culminating in another big party coming together over at the “moon tower”, one of those supposedly public places adored by suburban teens as a place to party at night with mass numbers of people without having to worry about anyone to call the cops on them to break it up.  And we do meet the other characters (some likable, some not) who populate this sort of mini society, none more unforgettably than Matthew McConaughey as Wooderson, the laid back, older, twenty something ne’er do well who still hangs out with all of the high school kids due partly to his undying, swaggering lust for high school girls and partly to relive his own glory days from when he was the king of the high school scene (not to mention the type of guy who was always available to pick up some alcohol when needed) and EXACTLY the type of guy that we all remember hanging out with, as McConaughey became a star simply by playing it cool and watching as Linklater managed to expand his screen time bit by bit to include more scenes and dialogue due mostly to conflicts that the director had with other cast members.  As the weed dealing and eternally dopey Pickford, Shawn Andrews comes off as the most genuine of the teen characters, even going so far as to marry in real life his onscreen girlfriend played by Milla Jovovich.  Rory Cochrane as the whiny yet still lovable Slater became a fan favorite for many, particularly in the stoner ranks; As the three geeks who decide to try out their first party and wind up having memorable times both good and bad, Adam Goldberg, Anthony Rapp, and Marissa Ribisi actually manage to get their own mojo going together with their three characters; Sasha Jenson’s Don Dawson tries to emerge as the most likable of the football players, but is soon exposed as a shifty, untrustworthy follower who usually thinks of himself; Cole Hauser’s Benny is actually the most likable football player character despite being just as much of a sadist as Affleck, but also nails some quieter moments as well; Esteban Powell as the smarmy little shit freshman whom everyone loves to hate projects his puffed out chest, wanna be a big man attitude to perfection; and Nicky Katt’s Clint is actually the true bully of the movie preferring to pick on others because he perceives them to be weaker rather than out of tradition like Affleck does.  As for the aforementioned poorly written females, we get a gaggle of the talented and the not so talented, including Joey Lauren Adams, Deena Martin, Michelle Burke, Christine Harnos, Parker Posey (turning the bitch meter up to eleven), and Christin Hinojosa.  All of it combines to create a magical mix that nearly does the impossible feat of making an older viewer feel younger and more nostalgic while making any current generation of teens feel like they’ve found another set of characters to relate to and call their own, and the VERY expansive 70s rock soundtrack is like the cherry on top, sucking the viewer in entirely and along with the camerawork and editing, making us feel as if we’re among these characters, regardless of whether we like all of them or not.  An impressive accomplishment by any standards, made even moreso by the fact that the film has a number of weaknesses in other key areas, but if all that one could ask of a movie is to help to transport them back to their high school days ala Wooderson, then there is no doubt that this is the one that all of us should turn to…

9/10

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