Party at the Baseball House
May 27, 2016
Everybody Wants Some!! (2016).
D/W: Richard Linklater. DP: Shane F. Kelly. Starring: Blake Jenner/Glen Powell/J. Quinton Johnson/Temple Baker/Wyatt Russell/Ryan Guzman/Tyler Hoechlin/Juston Street/Will Brittain/Zoey Deutch.
The summer movies are here and the next one on the list is Richard Linklater’s Everybody Wants Some!! (please note the irritating exclamation points). This is Linklater’s follow up to 2014’s Boyhood, which earned critical acclaim and awe for its shooting schedule. Here he returns to his native Texas to chronicle the three days leading up to the start of class at the University of Texas in 1980.
Five years before the flash and videos of 1985 in Sing Street, this 1980 is still recovering from the 1970s. Handle bar mustaches and discos still thrive with plenty of man thigh to go round. Everybody Wants Some!! centers on the move in day of Jake (Blake Jenner), a freshman pitcher on the University of Texas baseball team. A National Champion team, the boys have been gifted two off-campus houses that essentially function as their own athletic fraternity nests. Jake joins his fellow freshman in hazing rituals, nights out, and must learn the dynamic of a team all before classes begin.
Linklater is best when working with his own material which is evident in the longstanding popularity of his 1993 film Dazed and Confused. Even if you have not seen the film you know of Matthew McConaughey’s famous line, ‘Alright, alright, alright.’ The Before Sunrise, Before Sunset and Before Midnight trilogy is a gorgeous work of long takes and you can see his interest in story construction that would lead to Boyhood. Here he cuts the three day story into logged time so you can follow how much just happens in three days. Once Blake moves in he attends a disco, a country bar, his own baseball house party, a drama party and his first practice. This pacing helps a film without much dramatic conflict work to engage its audience in characters and dynamics rather than twists.
Frankly, Everybody Wants Some!! is pure testosterone driven fun. The players chase girls, tease each other, and compete in everything. Jenner’s tall and lanky frame supports his big eyes that allow his innocence to feel age appropriate and genuine rather than put on. Mostly having been on Glee, he’s an ample freshman lead. The best performance is Texas native Glenn Powell whose logically instructive Finnegan is able to dilute the machismo of other characters and be a humorous voice of reason. Wyatt Russell is also a hoot as a pot smoking Californian. The team’s chemistry is what keeps the film going, as Jenner’s Jake pursue a girl Beverly (Zoey Deutch), you know the true love is the team.
America’s favorite pastime is a perfect sport for a movie as it does not require one specific physique in all its players. The team spirit is intrinsic to the sport and Linklater taps into that easily. He also manages to balance a nostalgic film that does not overcook its references. An early scene of the team singing along to a song sets the tone perfectly. Sure the title alone is a bit cocky, but that’s the story isn’t it? This is sex, love and baseball and it is just a good time. I would have liked just one player to have a girlfriend that was not long distance, but I still enjoyed it. Right down to the cunnilingus joke.
All the Right Moves
January 19, 2016
Creed (2016).
D: Ryan Coogler. DP: Maryse Alberti. W: Ryan Coogler & Aaron Covington. Starring: Sylvester Stallone/Michael B. Jordan/Tessa Thompson/Phylicia Rashad/Tony Bellow.
Although over in America Creed has been out since Thanksgiving, here in the UK we have just gotten the film and in the nick of time for award season. The seventh film to center on Sylvester Stallone’s iconic Philadelphia boxer, Rocky Balboa, Creed breathes new life into series so ostensibly linked to its star. Having written and directed the thought-to-be final film in 2006, Rocky Balboa, sixty-nine year old Stallone was convinced to step into the ring once again. And no one should be disappointed.
Director Ryan Coogler and young star Michael B. Jordan first teamed up for the 2013 Sundance success Fruitvale Station. The film centers on the fatal story of Oscar Grant who was shot by police in the San Francisco metro station on New Years Eve 2008. By that point Jordan had already been in Josh Tank’s Chronicle and would go on to join Fantastic Four when Tank took on the franchise. His pairing with Coogler is evidently a creatively fruitful one as it’s clear throughout Creed that everyone was making the same Rocky movie. Coogler, who has yet to hit thirty, has already made a name for himself and will be taking the reigns of the new Black Panther film for Marvel.
Creed follows a similar trajectory of the 1976 original that Stallone wrote, cultivating its underdog to take on a fight where he is the sure fire loser. The film is therefore able to center its emotional worth on Stallone as the reluctant coach and Jordan as his famous opponent’s, Apollo Creed, bastard son. Living in the shadow of the name alone Jordan’s Adonis aka Donny searches for identity within a sport that killed his father. Jordan is a rare combination of focus, charm, and a dash of ego as Donny, but never lays it on thick. In the rare emotionally vulnerable scenes between the mentor and his charge their connection is truly touching and a brilliant exploration of masculine emotion and care. Stallone doesn’t preach too much and the gentleness he has always brought to Rocky is still there.
Creed recognizes its canon and Rocky’s world, but brings the focus of the boxing into the personal. Unlike lesser boxing turns like last year’s Southpaw, this film also shoots its boxing scenes not like their matches to be aired on television, but rather through the dynamic of trainer and boxer. French cinematographer, Maryse Alberti, who also shot 2008’s The Wrestler brings an intelligent touch to this athletic hyper masculine space. A running shot of Jordan down the street is quite memorable. Jordan’s romance with Bianca (Tessa Thompson) is allowed to breathe and build without the routine racial struggle apparent. Thompson has long been working since her days on UPN’s Veronica Mars and it’s great to see her shine and create a character that is not the usual generic sports girlfriend.
Creed is a hit on all accounts right down to its music. It is hard not to feel your heart lift and your hand itch to punch the air when Rocky’s music comes on. Hopefully you feel as I did that this movie was made with tremendous love for its star Stallone and not for the money. Funny what we can find when we listen to our hearts and not our pockets.