A Long Summer Ahead

We talked about formative movies with the discussion of Empire Records, and I think we also have to acknowledge another movie of the same type, a movie that could speak to an up and coming generation and relate to them and who they are even as it tells its own story: Dazed and Confused. This is an interesting one not just because of the generations it could speak to (both the Gen Xers that lived through the time period of the film, but the Millenials that could relate to a high school-based story) but also how it came from the experiences of the writer / director behind the film, Richard Linklater. It feels honest and fresh in a way few movies can.

It was also, like Empire Records, a bomb at the Box Office. On a budget of $6.9 Mil it made a paltry $8.2 Mil. More than its budget, yes, but not enough to consider it a success. That’s surprising when you go back and watch it, though, because (even more than the stacked cast in Empire Records) this film was loaded with soon-to-be stars. We’re talking Ben Affleck, Milla Jovovich, Cole Hauser, Parker Posey, Adam Goldberg, Matthew McConaughey, and Rory Cochrane (who was also in, amusingly, Empire Records). If you were to have made this movie even a few years later it likely would have been a massive hit just based on name recognition for the stars. Instead it came and went at the Box Office with little fanfare.

But it did find its audience eventually, from all the movie rats and renters at video stores. This movie was the pure definition of a film that found itself due to the home video market, when people could rent it cheap, find a film they love, and then spread the good word about it to everyone else they knew. The film went from forgotten comedy to reevaluated favorite, and even rides on Quentin Taratino’s list of greatest movies of all time (he even presented the Star of Texas award to Linklater for the films 20th anniversary). It’s in the criterion collection, has rave reviews (both then and now) and is all around a beloved film.

Much of this is because it does just speak to the era and its characters. The film takes place on the last day of school in Austin, Texas in 1976. It follows around a few different groups, primarily focusing on the incoming senior class and freshmen classes for the following year. It’s the first day out of school, with a long summer to look forward to, and we get to see all the hijinks and shenanigans, highs and lows, fights and parties the students can get into when they have the freedom of nothing to do and nowhere to go.

It’s not a formless movie, but it’s also hard to say what the exact plot of the film is because, in a way, every character has a plot and everyone has a story they’re following even as the film just takes a long, slow ride through that one day and night. Two key stories, though, are those of senior Randall "Pink" Floyd (Jason London) and freshman Mitch Kramer (Wiley Wiggins). Pink will be the lead quarterback for the high school team, and should be living life that summer in the lead up to the season, but his coach wants everyone on the team to sign a morality pledge (no drinking, no drugs, yada yada) and Pink doesn’t want to sign it. Everyone around him is pressuring the guy to sign it, but he keeps saying no. Meanwhile, Mitch is a solid baseball player who just wants to survive the summer even as the seniors engage in a “little light hazing” for the incoming class. But after being a good sport and taking the hazing in stride, he gets to join up and party with them, becoming one of the cool kids in just a single night.

And, really, that’s it. That’s the form of the movie. Whether it be one of the nerdy senior falling for a freshman, or one of them starting a fight with a asshole stone, or the boys getting into trouble for breaking a few mailboxes, the film just kind of moves and meanders through the stories, never really taking too much time to force or focus on them, instead letting the natural flow of the evening take the characters along their course. Most of the stories find some kind of resolution, but at the same time this is a film all about its journey, not the destination. Hell, we don’t even get to see a full resolution for the Pink storyline. He does come face to face with his coach and say, “I’ll never sign,” but we don’t even know if that means he’s quit the team or the coach will force him off or not. It’s left up in the air because this is just one day in the life of these teens and there’s more for them to see and do before summer is over.

Dazed and Confused is a tightly plotted, well written, well structured film. Linklater knew exactly the film he wanted to make and the end result is endlessly watchable. It’s fun to boot the film up, to hang out with the huge cast of characters, to see how all their stories interweave and move around each other, with stories coming and going, beers getting drunk and kids falling in love, all while the soundtrack of great hits from the 1970s plays in the background. This is a film that sucks you into its time period, its vibe, and lets you cruise along just like the teens enjoying their first day of freedom and partying.

At the same time, I can absolutely understand why this film would struggle to find the right audience in theaters. It’s not an easily marketable movie (as proven by how terrible Gramercy Pictures botched its marketing campaign, trying to sell it as a stoner comedy when it really isn’t), one that doesn’t have an easy hook to pull people into theaters. Multiple stories with C-list (at the time) stars, all just riding around, having a good time. The exact reason why this movie works so well is also the reason why it would be impossible for most trailer designers to create something that would appeal to audiences. Maybe Linklater could have cut his own trailer that would have done the film justice, but Gramercy wasn’t really interested in listening to his ideas for marketing his movie (this being only his second movie).

Thankfully the home video market did exist so this hilarious, easy to love film could find an audience. This is the kind of movie where, now, you’d think a company like NetflixOriginally started as a disc-by-mail service, Netflix has grown to be one of the largest media companies in the world (and one of the most valued internet companies as well). With a constant slate of new internet streaming-based programming that updates all the time, Netflix has redefined what it means to watch TV and films (as well as how to do it). would snatch it up, release it one weekend in the middle of the year, and then ignore it and let it die on the service until they deleted it to take a tax break. The kind of slow burn, find the audience path that Dazed and Confused took after its release, letting people enjoy it on store shelves, is the exact kind of market that streamers like Netflix have completely eroded, and films like Dazed and Confused are going to get lost in the churn.

And that’s a pity because this is the exact kind of film we need to break up all the big, summer blockbusters. A nice respite from the superheroes and over-the-top actioners, a comedy to soothe you with an easy going good time. You want to get settled in to enjoy Ben Affleck’s assholish Fred O’Bannion getting his comeuppance after terrorizing freshmen all night long. You want to chill with the stoned-out Wooderson as he waxes poetic about life. You want to hop in the car with Pink and the gang to go off and get Aerosmith tickets (the hottest event of the summer). The movie is a chill ride throughout, and then it ends with hope and the desire for more.

More, of course, didn’t come as whatever sequel ideas Linklater might have had (if any) weren’t able to be pursued after the films drop at the Box Office. He did eventually get to make a spiritual sequel, Everybody Wants Some!!, 23 years later, although the general vibe of that film is a little different. Still, it would have been nice to spend another day with Pink and Mitch and all the rest just to have another fun, slow ride with these guys as the heat of summer set in.

But maybe it’s best that we didn’t. The legacy of this film gets to remain untouched because it had to be a one-and-done. No one had to come back, no new story had to be told. This film could be its own thing and, each time, we could enjoy the first day of summer, the hope of the future, and that easy drive for Aerosmith with the prospect of nothing else to do and nowhere else to go for three long months. That’s a vibe we can all relate to even all this time later.