Page 29 - atoday
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PEOPLE & ARTS A29
Saturday 2 April 2016
Linklater recreates fun of ‘80 in ‘Everybody Wants Some!!’
Linklater played college all the team, that it was fun
ball for only one year be- being part of the team. It
fore health reasons forced takes up so much of your
him off the field, but he re- life, you put in so many
members everything about hours, you work so hard,
that time and those team- but what you really miss is
mates. “Everybody Wants the camaraderie of that.”
Some!!” is a love letter to “A lot of people spend the
that bond. rest of their life trying to
find that and something
“If you ask any athlete that they care about so
what they miss about play- much, which is kind of hard
ing, they’ll say the guys, to find,” he said. “I got
the team. Male, female, lucky.”q
doesn’t matter, they’ll say
This image released by Paramount Pictures shows Austin Amelio, Tanner Kalina, Forrest Vickery,
Tyler Hoechlin and Ryan Guzman in “Everybody Wants Some.”
Associated Press
LINDSEY BAHR that Linklater chose to set life, though.
AP Film Writer the film, which follows the “It’s like running into an old
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Di- bro philosophers of the col- friend who you haven’t
rector Richard Linklater re- lege baseball team around seen in a while. The conver-
members the year 1980 as as they mine every bit of sation picks up right there,”
a breezy, fun and raunchy fun out of those precious, Linklater said.
time. It was also the end of responsibility-free days with The 55-year-old “Boyhood”
an era — the last gasp of sex, drugs, alcohol and ev- director was mainly struck
the “utter hedonistic aban- erything in between. The by how much younger the
donment” of the 1970s be- film, now playing in New cast was than him now —
fore the conservative cul- York and Los Angeles, ex- and how the idea of asking
tural backlash of the new pands nationwide in the a girl to dance at a disco
decade was to take hold. coming weeks. was just not in the cultural
But the college freshman vocabulary of his millen-
of his latest film “Everybody In movie time, “Everybody nial actors. As in “Dazed
Wants Some!!” didn’t know Wants Some!!” is set only and Confused” and its
that. The draft was long four years after its prede- then-unknown cast of now
over. “Just Say No” hadn’t cessor, Linklater’s last day notables like Matthew Mc-
yet been introduced. In the of high school cult classic Conaughey, Linklater pop-
fall of 1980 at a small Texas “Dazed and Confused.” In ulated this cast with under
college, everything was real time, 23 years sepa- the radar actors like Blake
still a party — especially in rate the two semi-autobio- Jenner, Wyatt Russell, Ryan
the long weekend before graphical films. Guzman and Tyler Hoech-
classes start. Those two decades didn’t lin.
And it’s in that concentrat- really change how Linklater Linklater drew on both peo-
ed, heightened weekend felt about that period in his ple he knew and many of
his experiences to craft the
characters and situations.
Without spoiling the fun of
discovery, let’s just say that
some of it is not too far re-
moved from the antics of
“Animal House” and other
college comedies.
“Almost all of it really hap-
pened in some way or an-
other,” Linklater said.
Wild abandon aside, the
heart of the movie is the
baseball team, and the
nutty characters who fill out
the roster — from the “weir-
do” pitchers to the hot shot
batters — and how they
bicker, bond and com-
pete on and off the field.
