Viewed in
2014
Formats
HDTV
Premise
The adventures of incoming high school and junior high students on the last day of school, in May of 1976. And Matthew McConaughey's first feature role.
Loved
Wooderson, small town slice-of-life.
Liked
Cast.
Disliked
High schoolers mumblecoring.
Thoughts
This was more reminiscent of American Graffiti than Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
As writer and director, Richard Linklater masterfully captured the time and place of small town high schoolers and junior high schoolers. Along with great 1970's music, the movie had a nostalgic vibe, to go with the innocent days of underage drinking, pot-smoking and school hazing.
There were a ton of recognizable faces, such as Joey Lauren Adams, Adam Goldberg, Milla Jovovich, before she was slaying zombies, and Ben Affleck, playing a douche. But obviously the most memorable face was Mr. Wooderson, Matthew McConaughey, with his "all right all right all right" and "it'd cooler if you did". Having said that, Rory Cochrane nearly stole the show as the spazzy stoner kid.
Obviously, like most of Linklater's works, it was very mumblecory. The marketing and poster sold it as a romp, but frankly, not much really happened in the story. Just a bunch of kids talking about life, which brought back memories of my teenage philosophical conversations, but as an adult, you're reminded of how naive and meaningless those thoughts were.
Overall, Dazed and Confused was a great slice of life type of movie, with familiar and iconic faces. But in the end, I just felt underwhelmed listening to clueless teens just chatting.
