Dazed and Confused (1993)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Richard Linklater

Writer (WGA):

Richard Linklater (written by)

Release Date:

24 September 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

It was the last day of school in 1976, a time they'd never forget... if only they could remember.

Plot:

The adventures of incoming high school and junior high students on the last day of school, in May of 1976.

Plot Keywords:

Last Day Of School | High School | Hazing | Rite Of Passage | Stoner

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Jason London	...	Randall 'Pink' Floyd
Rory Cochrane	...	Ron Slater
Wiley Wiggins	...	Mitch Kramer
Sasha Jenson	...	Don Dawson
Michelle Burke	...	Jodi Kramer
Adam Goldberg	...	Mike Newhouse
Anthony Rapp	...	Tony Olson
Matthew McConaughey	...	David Wooderson
Marissa Ribisi	...	Cynthia Dunn
Shawn Andrews	...	Kevin Pickford
Cole Hauser	...	Benny O'Donnell
Milla Jovovich	...	Michelle Burroughs
Joey Lauren Adams	...	Simone Kerr
Christin Hinojosa	...	Sabrina Davis
Ben Affleck	...	Fred O'Bannion

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive, continuous teen drug and alcohol use and very strong language.

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Brazil:14 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A | Norway:15 | Singapore:NC-16 | Spain:18 | UK:15 (video re-rating) (2003) | UK:18 (original rating) | UK:18 (video rating) (1994) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Company:

Alphaville Films

Trivia:

Prior to filming, Wiley Wiggins (Mitch Kramer) had never thrown a baseball in his life. Because of this, a double was used in the pitching scenes.

Goofs:

Continuity: When O'Bannion has the paint poured on him, the amount on his face changes from shot to shot

Quotes:

Wooderson: All right, all right, all right.

Movie Connections:

References Deliverance (1972)

Soundtrack:

Sweet Emotion

a breeding ground for talent

"Dazed and Confused", which takes place during the 70s, was one of the best movies of the 90s. It really is phenomenal how much talent was in this ensemble; if you want to see Adam Goldberg, Matthew Mcconaughey, Milla Jovovich, Joey Lauren Adams, Parker Posey, or an almost completely unrecognizable Ben Affleck (playing the sort of role he would almost never play again, an a**hole) before they were stars, look no further. And of course this was an early movie for director Richard Linklater, who had made the relatively unknown "Slackers" previously and who would go on to make "School of Rock", which was almost as good as "Dazed and Confused".

Taking place on the last day of school in a small suburban town, "Dazed and Confused" is a brilliant ensemble piece rivaling anything done by Robert Altman that covers the broadest spectrum of teenagers imaginable. We see the nerds, the potheads, the jocks, and the cheerleaders, as well as the incoming freshmen, as they celebrate the beginning of summer. Some celebrate less than others, of course; freshman hazing is a big part of the movie, both male and female. The dialogue is fresh and unexpected; lines about George Washington's proclivity for marijuana, why you just gotta love high school girls ("I get older, they stay the same age", as McConaughey's character says), and the herd mentality when a fight breaks out demonstrate how all-over-the-map the dialogue can be, and it's always affecting and usually quite funny.

Of course, it's the acting and the characters that really steal the movie, and it really is amazing how many people in this movie went on to bigger things. As I said before, Affleck was the most surprising, but Mcconaughey had the most memorable role as an older dude who can't seem to let go of his youth, a slick slimeball who chases after under-age jail bait. And he has never been funnier or better than he was in this. Eventually, his character will wake up and the kids aren't going to want to hang out with him and the girls aren't going to want to sleep with him anymore, and he's going to have a rude awakening. But for the time being, he's all macho cool swagger, and Mcconaughey pulled off the part perfectly. Parker Posey is also excellent, playing a senior bitch (but only because she's "supposed" to be) unleashing a humiliating hazing on the incoming freshman girls.

You have to give props to the writing. It's not a long movie, but it covers so much ground that it feels big. At one point, a character says that the 70s obviously suck. That may have been, but it's never looked cooler than it did in "Dazed and Confused". And the soundtrack must be mentioned too. The 70s was a decade full of musical highs and lows, and thankfully the soundtrack highlights the highs while ignoring the lows, and we have songs by Aerosmith, ZZ Top, Dr. John, War, and other seminal 70s rock figures (curiously missing: "Dazed and Confused" by Led Zeppelin, but that's forgivable). Brilliant; there's not a single clunker, and it adds to the free, easygoing atmosphere of the movie. "Dazed and Confused" is quite possibly the best "teen movie" ever made, and, from the point of view of someone who grew up in the 80s anyway, the best movie about the 70s ever made.