Post by StevePulaski on Apr 5, 2016 8:26:00 GMT -5
Dazed and Confused (1993)
Directed by: Richard Linklater
Directed by: Richard Linklater
Matthew McConaughey at the center of a group of buds in Dazed and Confused.
Rating: ★★★½
Few movies as plotless, unfocused, and lacking in character investment and development as Dazed and Confused succeed, but thanks to high, constant levels of fun, writer/director Richard Linklater's serious love and admiration for the time period of the 1970's, and the film itself seamlessly juggling a handful of perspectives on one particular day, Dazed and Confused winds up being a hugely funny and successful film. It combines the restless, impatient fevers and hormones that plague unassuming high school students on the last day of school, and the time-appropriate clothes and music to create a film that looks like it was spat out of the 1970's and somehow took until 1993 to see the light of the day.
A large part of the film's accomplishments come from Linklater, who proves he's one of the most genuine and patient filmmakers working today. His films have the unique ability of positioning themselves as "slice of life" works that effectively wind up stating the meaning/moral of their existence at the conclusion of the film, rather than always attempting to carry a core theme or thesis with them through each scene. With this very liberal and creative method of filmmaking, Linklater has time to simply focus on the characters as they are, portraying them probably how people similar to those in the film would want to be portrayed. He is never condescending, critical, nor damning of his characters because of their respective actions in his films; he allows them to be and breathe and the characters in Dazed and Confused are so able to be and breathe that they could probably wind up carrying the film if Linklater ripped up the script in front of them and kept the cameras rolling.
We drop in on a late May-afternoon in the suburbs of Austin, Texas, where Lee High School has just been let out. Seniors are enthralled to have four ostensibly never-ending years of classes and teachers they didn't care for behind them, while freshman boys and girls are busy being hazed by their upperclassmen. While there is no character instrumental to the plot, one of the main characters is a boy named Randall "Pink" Floyd (Jason London), the school's star football player, who has to pledge to his coach that he will not drink or do drugs this summer so he won't risk his role on the team. Meanwhile, everyone is planning to go to Kevin Pickford's (Shawn Andrews) house for a graduation party, until his parents, who were planning to go on vacation, see a man delivering kegs of beer to their house before they've even left.
This means the party must take place on the streets and at select malt shops, bars, and vacant lots around town. Linklater feels like a worn-out documentarian, trying to capture all the fun and anxiousness of one night without missing a beat, and unsurprisingly, he succeeds because he never focuses on a select group for too long. Other characters we see are Mitch and Carl (Wiley Wiggins and Esteban Powell), two freshman boys who escape hazing and earn the respect of the seniors, Fred O'Bannon (Ben Affleck), a miserable upperclassman obsessed with the hazing tradition so much he takes it to newer, more violent heights, David Wooderson (Matthew McConaughey), a man in his early twenties who still relishes in the thrill of high school parties, and Jodi Kramer (Michelle Burke), Mitch's older sister who tries to give him some guidance on the rowdiest night of his life.
Another group besides one that consists of Pink, Mitch, and several more of his friends is also that of Cynthia Dunn (Marissa Ribisi), Tony Olson (Anthony Rapp), and Mike Newhouse (Adam Goldberg), who spend much of the night circling blocks in their car talking about their plans and confusions after high school, all while trying to avoid crossing paths with those who have bullied them for their different ways for as far back as they can remember.
This may be one of the first and only times I'll say this, but the free-form structure of Dazed and Confused is one of its biggest perks because we cannot spend too much time getting to know or lingering on one character or group. Doing that would be like staying in the kitchen of a house party with the same four people, with the only new faces you'd be seeing coming in briefly to grab another beer before walking out. There's no fun in sticking to the same social group with the same unchanging motto and ideas, and thankfully Linklater recognizes this. In addition, while there are few lengthy monologues or conversations between characters, the small sips of information and insights into their ideology that come as a result of this camera that seems to be always going with the flow makes for a growing desire to continue to know and grow empathetic with these characters. Rather than an information dump, Linklater believes in controlled and frequently punctuated looks and invitations into the psyches of these characters, which works in making this film all the more genuine.
The very same perks and highlights of the characters of Dazed and Confused, with their acid-washed clothing, tight and ripped jeans, and blaring mixtapes comprised of music that can now be found on oldies stations with ease, can all be the subjects of criticism amongst new audiences. There is an unmistakable wave of misogyny and shortchanging women in the film and somewhat awkward scenes of relationships brewing between seniors and freshmen. However, none of it is particular offensive or gratuitous enough to label it unrealistic or uncalled for given the settings, and Linklater sees the oversight in this by trying to make the environments as believable as possible. Through all his craft and the talents of his actors being both naturalistic and easygoing, he winds up creating one of the best films about the 1970's that was made over a decade after that supremely captivating time period left us behind, like the characters who all planned to go to Pickford's party that night.
Starring: Jason London, Wiley Wiggins, Michelle Burke, Matthew McConaughey, Marissa Ribisi, Anthony Rapp, Adam Goldberg, Joey Lauren Adams, Rory Cochrane, Ben Affleck, Shawn Andrews, and Esteban Powell. Directed by: Richard Linklater.