Dearest Hilary,
This film was very apropos for our first letter exchange outing. Watching Everybody Wants Some!! brought back a flood of college memories. Meeting all the freshman and transfers at the start of a year was always so thrilling and all the traditions that went with it. Living in the college town where you and I met, I still get to witness similar memories being made at the end of every August when the herds of college kids trample back to town. Linklater captures the beauty of budding friendships and the strength of tradition in EWS!! with fine dialogue, great casting and a sense of time.
Of course you are a huge fan of the Before trilogy! Where do you wanna be most days? In some European country! What I see in most of Linklater’s films is the “light on plot, big on story” It works for him. He likes to capture a moment in time and just seems to go with it; see where it goes. But what most people do not know know is that he is in rehearsals for weeks before he shoots a scene. His weeks of rehearsals shine in his films. With our backgrounds in theatre, we know how important rehearsing can be. From what I can tell, new moments that are discovered during a rehearsal period make for smoother storytelling in the editing process. The actors have time to really figure out how to embody their character; even change the dialogue to suit them, hence Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawk getting the nods for screenwriting. Richard Linklater seems to love to do a good ol’ fashion script dissection, even with the scripts he writes. Writing backgrounds and a list of goals for each character helps push his films to their final product.
Out of all the boys from the baseball team, I am glad we got to follow Jake’s trip. The only other one I would want to follow would be Plummer. I just ADORE Plummer. Can’t tell ya why, I just do. I am not sure the Plummer version of EWS!! would be as fun as Jake’s version. Jake wanted to take it all in, he was so at ease in any setting, from the honky-tonk to the punk show, he just melded into the surroundings and became one with the elements. What jock that you knew in college would jump in at the last minute to be in some odd ball theatre shenanigans at a party full of other theatre freaks with his jock friends watching? Jake is one of those rare teammates that can stand alone in his own actions and does not need the team to support him, even tho he wants/needs the team around. The male leads in Linklater’s movie tend to be, as you said “overly curious, confident, and eloquent, and somewhat intellectually arrogant.” and Jake embodies those features to a T. Which also makes him a stand out on the team. He is the pitcher, the center of the team, but he can easily go off and do his artsy fartsy things that he knows that if his teammates find out he will be made fun of for it. But does that stop him from pursuing a theatre chick? Nope.
EWS!! was not quite your typical college movie. Yes, there was plenty of drinking, drugs, sexy time jokes, general crudeness, and nostalgia (i feel all college based movies have a touch of nostalgia to them, they have to!) but there was there something so fresh about EWS!!. Maybe it was the fresh faced casting or that it was not just another rehash of a teen sex romp. It has story. It has life. I wanted to know more about each character. I have never been in the Dazed and Confused camp. I watched it, liked it, but there is no need to gush over how amazing it was. Dazed and Confused is a great snapshot of a time, just like EWS!!; I could not relate to the high school experience in Dazed, but I certainly related to EWS!!.
Oh, for sure this film is not for current 18-21 year olds. They can relate, sorta, but this film is for anyone 30 and over. How can 18-21 year olds fully relate when their lives are all on a screen that lives in their pockets? We barely had Google in college, let alone social media and smartphones. At both viewings of the film I went to there was a spattering of age groups. A few college age kids who were quiet most of the movie, while the older patrons were laughing and connecting with the heavy nostalgia.
One of my favorite parts of the movie is when the question “What’s your major?” is asked. This question never gets old to me. The doors it opens, the connections it can make is something I still like to explore to this day, almost 15 years removed from being in college. Living in a college town keeps these kinds of questions and experiences fresh every year. Will Linklater do a movie about Grad students? I will be right there to see that one also!
This film is filled with traditions and superstitions. Sports and Theatre, no where else can you find institutions so filled with tradition, superstition and competition. When Jake and Beverly, played by Zoey Deutch, are talking about how each person on the team was the best in their high school it reminded me of the theatre department. All those actors, singers and techies that thought they were the best at their high school, only to be thrown into a group of alphas. Just like a college sports team. It was this connection that they both could understand, something they bond over. This is why I actually think Jake and Beverly might actually make it as a couple.
Will this movie be nominated for anything? Probably not. Maybe, just maybe, a screenwriting nom from the globes, as you mentioned in the comedy realm, which i think this movie is firmly in. What it should be nominated for, or at least considered for? Art direction, costumes, make-up/hair styling and original screenplay. All of the above were spot on in my book.
As you mentioned the music in EWS!! stands out. The first note i wrote was “MUSIC” What a fucking soundtrack! This is borderline Big Chill and Forrest Gump soundtrack quality. Each song was perfectly selected and moved the movie forward. Almost a generational defining soundtrack? Time will tell. Music also connected the characters. They knew the songs from home, and it made the bonding experience easier since they all knew the songs.
As with music supervision, the Academy needs to start to recognizing casting. Casting was key in this film. Even tho we follow Jake throughout the film, this is an ensemble piece. The chemistry amongst the cast came through on screen. I am sure 15 years from now, whatever is left over of BuzzFeed will run a listicle about where are the stars from Everybody Wants Some!! Today.
One more thing. This film needed more jockstraps!
Cheers,
Stephen
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