Everybody Wants Some!!

The first time I saw Richard Linklater’s Everybody Wants Some!!, I was sitting in a mostly empty theater in a strip mall, nursing a lukewarm soda and wondering why I was the only person there to witness a masterpiece. It was 2016, a year dominated by the superhero Civil War and a certain space opera spin-off, yet here was this lo-fi, sun-drenched Texas time capsule that felt more alive than any CGI city-leveling explosion. I walked out of that screening feeling like I’d just spent a long weekend with the coolest big brothers I never had. I also went straight home and tried to drink a beer while doing a headstand—it resulted in a sinus infection and a deep respect for the physical coordination of 1980s collegiate athletes.

The Art of the Eternal Hangout

Linklater is the undisputed heavyweight champion of the "hangout movie." From Slacker (1990) to the generational touchstone Dazed and Confused (1993), he’s obsessed with the spaces between the "big moments" of life. Everybody Wants Some!! is the spiritual successor to Dazed, trading the angst of high school for the aimless, testosterone-fueled freedom of the final weekend before college classes start in August 1980.

We follow Jake (Blake Jenner), a freshman pitcher arriving at a dilapidated off-campus baseball house. There is no plot. There are no high stakes. Nobody is trying to save the world or even win a championship. Instead, the "stakes" are entirely social: Who can get into the hottest disco? Who can talk their way into a drama major's heart? Who can win a game of ping-pong without getting their dignity bruised? It’s a movie about jocks that somehow feels like it was written for the drama club kids, stripping away the typical "meathead" tropes to find the weird, poetic, and hilariously competitive heart underneath the polyester.

The Powell Effect and Ensemble Magic

While Blake Jenner provides a solid, "everyman" anchor, the film belongs to the ensemble. This is a clinic in comedic timing and chemistry. You have Tyler Hoechlin as McReynolds, the hyper-competitive alpha who can’t even lose a game of "flick-the-cup" without seeing red, and Ryan Guzman as Roper, the seasoned senior trying to maintain his cool.

But we have to talk about Glen Powell. Long before he was "Hangman" in Top Gun: Maverick (2022) or charming us in Anyone But You (2023), he was Finnegan here—a fast-talking, philosophy-spouting, smooth-operating legend in a mesh cap. Glen Powell manages to make "mansplaining" feel like a high-wire act of charisma. Every time he opens his mouth, you’re either laughing or taking notes. The way these guys play off each other feels authentic because it was; Linklater famously had the cast live together at his Texas ranch for weeks, rehearsing, playing baseball, and bonding. That lived-in energy is the film’s secret weapon. It’s a reminder that the best special effect in cinema is still just a group of talented actors who actually like each other.

A Relic of the Pre-Streaming Pivot

In the context of the mid-2010s, Everybody Wants Some!! was a bit of a canary in the coal mine for theatrical comedies. Released by Annapurna Pictures, it was a critical darling that completely evaporated at the box office. In a contemporary landscape where streaming services began gobbling up "mid-budget" adult dramas and comedies, this film’s failure to find an audience in theaters felt like a funeral for a certain kind of cinema. It’s the type of movie that, today, would likely be dumped onto a streaming platform on a Friday morning with zero fanfare.

But watching it now, away from the box office reports, it feels remarkably prescient about masculinity. Linklater navigates the 1980s setting without the toxic baggage usually associated with "frat-style" comedies. These guys are competitive and horny, sure, but they’re also curious, supportive, and strangely intellectual. They pivot from a disco to a country bar to a punk show, trying on identities like costumes. The only thing more competitive than their baseball is their desperate need to be the coolest guy in a room full of disco-hating punks.

If you missed this one because the marketing didn't tell you "what it was about," consider this your invitation to the best party of 1980. It’s a film that celebrates the brief, beautiful window where you’re old enough to do anything but young enough to have nothing to do. It’s funny, it’s rhythmic, and it features a soundtrack that will stay in your head for weeks. Seek it out, grab a cold one, and just hang out for two hours—you won't regret it.