Everybody Wants Some!!, Richard Linklater’s spiritual sequel to Dazed and Confused, moves the action from the end of high school 1976 to the start of college 1980. But the writer and director’s goal remains the same: to capture the best days of the characters’ lives, understanding how quickly they will pass.
The best days may be gone before these kids know it but that doesn’t mean Everybody Wants Some!! isn’t fun while it lasts. The film follows a team of likeable jocks living off campus as they party their way through the weekend before college begins.
As familiar as the American college comedy territory is, Linklater marks out fresh ground. His characters may sound like stock types but reveal unexpected depth as they settle into a couple of days of pot, parties and one-upmanship. Just as Dazed and Confused featured a couple of up and comers like Matthew McConaughey, Ben Affleck, Park Posey and Mila Jovanich, EWS!! may well prove as potent for its young ensemble cast. Meet the guys…
McReynolds (Tyler Hoechlin)
Dressed in short shorts and a crop top sweater, McReynolds looks like he’s just stepped off of a 70s gay porno. But do not mess with the resident ping pong champ and the vainest guy on the 1980s Texan college scene, who can also take a fine swing of a baseball bat. For the part, actor Tyler Hoechlin goes through a transformation that compares with his stint turning werewolf in Teen Wolf.
Brumley (Tanner Kalina)
Mostly notable for growing the 1980s Texan college undergraduate equivalent of bumfluff and being mercilessly mocked for it, Brumley’s main role is a reminder that not all jocks were created equally. Some just had bad hair.
Coma (Forrest Vickery)
Handlebar moustache. Weird name. See above.
Roper (Ryan Guzman)
Ryan Guzman is one of the more recognisable faces in EWS!! He was The Boy Next Door who (spoiler) turned out real bad to J-Lo in the 2015 erotic thriller and has been in Pretty Little Liars and Step Up dance movie franchise. In EWS!!, he’s Roper, a fairly straight forward wingman to McReynolds, down to his slightly less porno dress sense. Could still probably get a bit part in something mildly X rated, mind.
Nesbit (Austin Amelio)
AKA the guy who can’t win a bet but keeps placing them. Especially bad at a game of Bloody Knuckles.
Jake (Blake Jenner)
Linklater’s protagonist, is at first glance, a wholesome jock, but played by Blake Jenner – last seen as a wholesome jock with surprisingly good pipes in Glee – this guy’s got depth in spades. Everybody Wants Some!! follows freshman pitcher Jake from hitching up to his college house to the first bell for class and Jenner plays it out with style. It’s not quite how college might have panned out for Mason in Linklater’s Boyhood (which climaxed with him going off to uni), but quint a little and Jenner’s character hits similar, thoughtful beats.
Plummer (Temple Baker)
AKA the guy so stoned he won’t remember any of college.
Jay Niles (Juston Street)
The one who clearly came off his meds before heading to college, Jay Niles talks an incredible (read: unbelievable) game off the pitch. Best not to argue with the baseball team’s ‘raw dog’, a fast-baller with a temper as quick as his throwing.
Willoughby (Wyatt Russell)
Kurt Russell’s son in real life, the baseball team’s man with a bong in Everybody Wants Some!! Willoughby can hit the weed hard while quoting Carl Sagan and dissecting Pink Floyd note by note. It’s a skill…
Dale Douglas (J. Quinton Johnson)
The only black guy on the team and perhaps the closest it’s got to a sane person, Douglas is Jake’s wingman as they double up at the disco in a moment reminiscent of Dazed and Confused‘s Emporium hang out scene.
Finnegan (Glen Powell)
Finnegan is a pick up artist, whose shtick is underplaying his manhood, overselling his eagerness to settling down and quoting Kerouac. It works. Powell, is a relatively familiar face, with smaller roles in shows like Scream Queens.
Beuter (Will Brittain)
Jake’s roommate is a country boy with the boots to prove it and a sweetheart at home, a fact for which he’s mercilessly mocked more than the guy with the terrible facial hair.
Everybody Wants Some!! is in UK cinemas from 13th May
VOTE for us at this year’s Webby Awards for Best Fashion And Beauty Website