Better Late than Never on the Fantastic Film "Everybody Wants Some!!"

Any film with this backdrop will automatically get a pass.

About a week ago I finally got around to seeing "Everybody Wants Some!!". This was the most recent Richard Linklater movie. I think it came out earlier this year. I really, really enjoyed this movie. I am still thinking about a week later, so it obviously was well made.

The movie is basically a sequel of sorts to the much acclaimed cult classic, "Dazed And Confused". I heard some people, Linklater himself, saying it was a sequel of sorts to "Boyhood", but I don't buy that for a second. This movie was much more in tune with "Dazed And Confused" than "Boyhood". "Everybody Wants Some!!" takes place on the weekend before college starts at a school in Texas. The main character, Jake(Blake Jenner), is a freshman baseball player and he is moving into one of the two baseball houses the school has for the team.

From the start, we see the dynamics of new and old students in college. Jake, after driving around town and seeing lots and lots of things he likes, arrives to the house and is immediately met by two older teammates, Roper(Ryan Guzman) an McReynolds(Tyler Hoechlin). They are making a make shift water bed using the house's water hoses, and the two older teammates immediately start giving Jake a hard time. They make fun of him being a freshman and a pitcher. They claim they both dislike pitchers, as does every other position player. This is their way of "hazing" him, if you will. As Jake makes his way to his room, he meets some of his other teammates. When he makes his way to the water bed room, he runs into Finnegan(Glen Powell), Willoughby(Wyatt Russell) and Dale(J. Quinton Johnson). These guys are nicer, but kind of push Jake to the side and explain the benefits to anyone listening about a waterbed. When Jake finally makes his way to his room, we meet his roommate, an introverted loner that only wants to talk to his hometown girlfriend, Beuter(Will Brittain). He's your typical southern boy, always with a dip in his mouth and very standoffish. We also get to meet another freshman at the house, Plummer(Temple Baker), and he is so pumped to be in college, meeting college girls, getting wasted and playing baseball. He is your typical "jock" of the group.

Now that we have established the main characters, the movie is basically a mirror image for most college students of what it is like that first weekend before classes start. There is the "hazing" that I mentioned above, but it is never malicious. The players are all pretty good guys that just want these kids to have fun. There is a great early scene when 5 of the guys are driving around campus, rapping along with "Rapper's Delight", but putting their own spin on it, and telling all the ladies on campus about their party later that night.

On the first night, we get a baseball team party. It is loud, fun, hook ups happen, it is your typical college party movie scene. After the party, the next day they have their team meeting, and we meet some more players, most notably Jay(Juston Street), who has a supposed 95 mile per hour fastball, and this is where you get the whole team feeling from a sports/comedy/coming of age movie. I loved this scene. Sure, these are college students that want to party and have fun, but they are also athletes and this is an important meeting.

The next day at the house, while hanging out, you also get a sense of team with the guys challenging each other at pointless contests. There's some random little games going on, but the main thing that happens, one of the players bets McReynolds that he can't split a baseball in half with an axe. McReynolds is the star player of the team, and a sure fire first round draft pick. It was really cool to see him swing that axe and cut not one, but 2 baseballs in half. Everyone was in awe.

Later on, there are more parties. They go to a punk rock party with punk kids. They go to discos. They go to soul dance clubs. They go to a theater kids party. It was, as I said, a great representation of how, even when you are a 22 year old senior in college, that you don't really know your place in this world yet. Sure, McReynolds knew he was going pro, and Dale was probably going to be a pro as well, but other guys, guys like Finnegan, Roper, Jake, Plummer and Beuter had no idea where they would be in 1, 2 or 3 years, and isn't that what college is all about, finding yourself.

There is a great side story involving the character Willoughby, but I don't want to spoil it because it is awesome. His story is one of many reasons you should watch this movie.

"Everybody Wants Some!!" is a really, really enjoyably good movie. I had tons of fun watching it, and I think I will most likely purchase it. This movie captured college almost as perfectly as "Dazed And Confused" captured high school. That is one thing that Linklater, as a director, does really well. He knows how to tell a very good story involving growing up and coming of age. This movie was fantastic. Everybody should really check it out. You don't have to be a Linklater fan to enjoy it either, it is a really solid movie. Go watch "Everybody Wants Some". I think you'll really like it.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor of SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man. He wants to know what piece of pop culture did you discover a bit late. Tell us all about it. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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