‘Everybody Wants Some!!’

An escape from escapism — it’s strange, but this is the best way I can think to describe writer/director Richard Linklater’s “Everybody Wants Some!!”

There are a lot of superheroes and big-budget blockbusters oversaturating our multiplexes right now, and as much as I enjoy the circus of it all, I can’t help but relish the opportunity to spend some time in the universe of someone like Linklater. His humanist approach to filmmaking brings such welcome joy, clarity and coolness to the big screen sans gratuitous CGI destruction and heartless motivations — I’m looking at you, “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.”

A refreshingly laid back, perceptive and hilarious first cousin to “Dazed and Confused,” Linklater’s 1993 hangout movie for the ages set during the last day of high school in 1976 Austin, TX, “Everybody Wants Some!!” takes place in 1980 in the few days prior to the first day of college, again in Southeast Texas.

Soon after arriving at his freshman college housing, star high school baseball pitcher Jake (Blake Jenner) meets his new college teammates and housemates. These include would-be smooth talker Finnegan (Glen Powell), laid-back Roper (Ryan Guzman), Alpha-male Glen (Tyler Hoechlin), thick-headed Plummer (Temple Baker), and Dale (Quinton Johnson), who ends up as a sort of guide to Jake through this strange new world. Over the course of three days, Jake gets to know all of these guys, as well as his cowboy roommate Billy (Will Brittain), fellow freshman Brumley (Tanner Kalina), and two older transfer students: the hot-headed Jay (Juston Street), and an eternally stoned philosopher named Willoughby (Wyatt Russell).

We get to know them too, and soon realize that what on the surface appears to just be a movie about a bunch of baseball bros hanging out and partying is actually a subtly crafted meditation on growing up and exploring your own identity. Jake and the guys party and dance at a disco, stomp around to “Cotton Eye Joe” at a cowboy bar, mosh at a punk rock club, and do a bad job blending in at a costume party thrown by the theater, dance and visual arts students.

One of these students, a theater major named Beverly (Zoey Deuth,) develops a crush on Jake, whom she nicknames the cute, quiet one of the bunch. She is surprised at Jake’s association with what she views as a bunch of dumb jocks, and finds herself questioning her own prejudices while embracing that growth in her perspective.

Throughout “Everybody Wants Some!!” we see people who have always thought about themselves and others in a certain way completely flip and evolve, painting their thoughts in less broad strokes and focusing more on the individual. What’s really great about this film is that in the midst of the partying, flirting, dancing and shameless displays of masculinity flows a strong but subtle undercurrent of anxiety concerning one question: What comes next? These guys have always lived in the moment, but even as each character tries his best to keep that momentum going, adulthood lurks and beckons, “right this way.”

The setting and subject matter of this film, as well as “Dazed and Confused” and “Boyhood,” marks its autobiographical nature, as Linklater, a forever resident of Southeast Texas, shades parts of his history and experience into his story and characters. This allows for him to think out loud his own self-exploration, but also achieves a kind of universality from which we’re able to better understand how we ourselves grow and change, and how we experience and deal with change that occurs around us over time.

About half way into “Everybody Wants Some!!” which cheekily takes its title and double exclamation points from the 1980 Van Halen song, the depth of Linklater’s writing and achieved ambition finally hit me like a ton of bricks. Jake and Finnegan are standing next to one another a safe distance away from the mosh pit at a punk rock club, and Jake takes a moment to voice his concern about where they are and whether or not they belong there. Finnegan chalks it up adaptability, in that they’re able to mold themselves to whatever scene they happen to be in — my thoughts on Jake’s somewhat cloaked existential question? Who knows? Either way, life’s a hell of a ride!!

★★★½ (out of 4)