Mr. Movie: ‘Everybody Wants Some!!’ one of the year’s best movies

Writer/director Richard Linklater’s Everybody Wants Some!! is being called the spiritual sequel to 1993’s Dazed and Confused. It’s a good comparison, but I like this one much better.

The risk-taking Linklater has established himself as Hollywood’s character study king. Proof is in Boyhood, which took 12 years to make, and in Me and Orson Welles, Waking Life — a brilliant explanation of every religion and philosophy known to humanity — and the sci-fi flick, A Scanner Darkly.

All are impressive pieces of work.

Set at a Texas university in 1980, Jake — who’s a baseball player — shows up at his new domicile. He’s sharing an old house with the rest of the team.

The film wanders through three days of parties and play, and you get to know his teammates just as Jake does. I’d go into more detail, but the movie really doesn’t go anywhere. It’s just about young men being young men and having a blast doing so.

Linklater is a genius at dialogue. On subjects shallow and fun, this one floats on air like a high fly ball to center field. When the topic is deep and to the point, it zips to the plate like a 90 mph fastball. One minute you’re pondering something heavy and philosophical, and the next you’re laughing your butt off.

And his characters are — dare I say — pitch perfect. I spent one summer of my youth partying with the players of a professional baseball team. The two hours spent with these guys in the movie had me laughing and re-living one of my favorite life experiences.

Even you didn’t spend time with a baseball team, if you are introspective at all, it will no doubt jog your own personal memories.

This story was originally published April 21, 2016 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Mr. Movie: ‘Everybody Wants Some!!’ one of the year’s best movies."