Dazed and Confused Review

    I'm surprised that Texas is an untapped goldmine of movie directors. For instance, Richard Linklater directed this classic in 1993. It's his second film and it helped him make a name for himself. Just to briefly talk about his filmography, his films are very less narrative focused and more character driven. This is the third film I saw with him as a director.  Dazed and Confused is just that. 

    The film takes place somewhere in a Texas town in 1976. It's the last day of high school and the film follows a group of students in various situations. Randal is a football player and is given a contract to sign for commitment to not do drugs or do anything bad. His nickname is Pink, and he goes with his friends to the junior high to hunt and paddle the incoming freshman. 

    From there, the film follows the freshman from Randal's encounter and back to Pink going around the Texas town. Their various activities range from smoking weed, messing up the neighbors mailbox and ask introspective questions of life after and before high school. 

    The most interesting aspect is the actors in the film. A few of them actually went on to win Academy Awards later down their careers. Ben Affleck, for the most part does a convincing job as a Texan despite the fact he's from Boston. But the main star who really stole the show, and created a zeitgeist in Texas culture.

     Matthew McConaughey plays the drop out David. I feel that he's the representation of the high school student who can't move on. Even though the character dropped out and looks at the high school girls. His signature "Alright, Alright, Alright" quote is and will always be associated with him. 

    This was really hard to critique or find any failings with this film. Maybe just one nitpick was that I would've want the focus to be on the incoming freshman in the summer. I feel it would be a sort of Stand By Me in terms of introspection. Also, since it came out in the early 90s, I feel that the 1970s weren't quite antiquated since the time frame is 17 years. I say that since, it wasn't quite popular up until the 2000s when the 70s where thought fondly over.

    Regardless, Richard Linklater manages to tell a unique story without it feeling meandering or having it never elicit the "where is it going?" question. He has a distinct style that only he manages to succeed at. Really, I'll probably dedicate a month on his movies, since he created a trilogy featuring an evolution of a relationship. 

    Dazed and Confused gets a four out of five.