Dazed and Confused (film)

Infobox Film
name = Dazed and Confused
mPAA = R


caption = Theatrical release poster
director = Richard Linklater
producer = Sean Daniel
James Jacks
Richard Linklater
writer = Richard Linklater
starring = Jason London
Rory Cochrane
Wiley Wiggins
Sasha Jenson
Michelle Burke
Adam Goldberg
Anthony Rapp
Matthew McConaughey
Marissa Ribisi
Shawn Andrews
Cole Hauser
Milla Jovovich
Joey Lauren Adams
Ben Affleck
Parker Posey
Nicky Katt
Christin Hinojosa
Esteban Powell
music = Various Artists
cinematography = Lee Daniel
editing = Sandra Adair
distributor = Gramercy Pictures
released = September 24, 1993
runtime = 103 min.
country = United States
language = English
budget = $6 million
gross = $7,993,039
amg_id = 1:121426
imdb_id = 0106677

"Dazed and Confused" is a 1993 comedy/coming of age film written and directed by Richard Linklater detailing a final day of school in 1976. The movie's large ensemble cast featured a number of future stars including Matthew McConaughey, Jason London, Ben Affleck, Milla Jovovich, Cole Hauser, Parker Posey, Anthony Rapp, Adam Goldberg, Joey Lauren Adams, Nicky Katt and Rory Cochrane. It was filmed in and around Austin, Texas.

The film grossed less than $8 million at the U.S. box office, but in recent years has achieved cult film status. Quentin Tarantino included it on his list of the 12 greatest films of all time in the 2002 "Sight and Sound". [ [http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/topten/poll/voter.php?forename=Quentin&surname=Tarantino poll] ] It also ranked third on "Entertainment Weekly's" list of the 50 Best High School Movies. [ [http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,1532588,00.html 50 Best High School Movies] ] The magazine also ranked it 10th on their Funniest Movies of the Past 25 Years list.cite news
title = The Comedy 25: The Funniest Movies of the Past 25 Years
publisher = "Entertainment Weekly"
date = August 27, 2008
url = http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20221235_15,00.html
accessdate = 2008-08-27 ]

The title of the film is derived from the Led Zeppelin song of the same name. [ [http://www.mindjack.com/interviews/linklater1.html Mindjack - Interview - Richard Linklater ] ] Linklater approached surviving members of the band for permission to use their songs in the movie but, while Jimmy Page agreed, Robert Plant refused. [http://nsfc.zap2it.com/nsfc/cda/index.jsp?p_state=8&DvdId=100068&ts=1173833040623]

Plot

It is May 28, 1976, the last day of school at Lee High School in Huntsville, Texas. Next year's seniors are preparing for the annual hazing of incoming freshmen. Randall "Pink" Floyd (Jason London), the school's star football player, is asked to sign a pledge promising not to take drugs during the summer or do anything that would "jeopardize the goal of a championship season." When classes end, freshman boys are hunted down by the seniors at the local middle school for paddling. The freshman girls are also hazed as they are rounded up in the school parking lot by senior girls, covered in mustard and ketchup, and forced to propose to senior boys.

Freshman Mitch Kramer (Wiley Wiggins) escapes the hazing, but is eventually cornered at his baseball game where he is violently paddled. Fred O'Bannion (Ben Affleck), a senior flunkey participating in the hazing tradition for a second year, takes special pleasure in punishing Kramer. Floyd gives the injured Kramer a ride home and offers to take him cruising with friends later that night. Plans for the evening are ruined when Kevin Pickford's (Shawn Andrews) parents discover he is to host a keg party. Elsewhere, the intellectual trio of Cynthia Dunn (Marissa Ribisi), Tony Olson (Anthony Rapp) and Mike Newhouse (Adam Goldberg), known as the class nerds, decide to go out and "viscerally" participate in the evening's activities. Floyd and his friend David Wooderson (Matthew McConaughey), a 22-year-old who still socializes with high school students, pick up Kramer and head for the Emporium, a pool hall popular with the teenagers.

As the evening progresses, students loiter around the Emporium, listen to rock music, cruise the neighborhood and stop at the local hamburger drive-in. Kramer is introduced to sophomore Julie Simms (Catherine Morris) and they seem to like each other. Kramer, cruising again with Floyd, Pickford and Don Dawson (Sasha Jenson), drinks beer and smokes marijuana for the first time. They play mailbox baseball, but a neighborhood resident brandishing a handgun catches them and threatens to call the police. They barely escape, but not before the resident harmlessly fires at their car. After returning to the Emporium, Kramer runs into his middle school friends. They hatch a plan to get revenge on O'Bannion, who continues to haze freshmen students. The plan culminates with them dumping paint on O'Bannion.

After the Emporium closes, an impromptu keg party is planned outside of town in a vacant field, attracting most of the seniors. Dunn, Olson and Newhouse arrive at their first keg party. Newhouse has a confrontation with tough guy Clint Bruno (Nicky Katt). Afterwards, Olson runs into freshman Sabrina Davis (Christin Hinojosa), who he met earlier during the hazing. Surprisingly, they begin to hang out together. Even more surprising, Dunn likes Wooderson and exchanges phone numbers with him. Newhouse, suffering from the humiliation of his confrontation with Bruno, decides to make a stand and picks a fight with him. The fight is quickly broken up by Floyd and Wooderson. Football player Benny O'Donnell (Cole Hauser) confronts Floyd about his refusal to sign the pledge. Floyd, the only player to have not signed, believes it violates his individuality and beliefs. Kramer leaves the keg party with Simms. They drive to a nearby hill overlooking town to make out. Olson gives Davis a ride home and they kiss good night.

As night turns to dawn, Floyd, Wooderson, Dawson and several friends including Ron Slater (Rory Cochrane) and Simone Kerr (Joey Lauren Adams) decide to smoke marijuana on the 50-yard line of the football field. The police arrive on the scene and, recognizing Floyd, call football Coach Conrad (Terry Mross). Conrad lectures Floyd about hanging out with "losers" and insists that he sign the pledge. Disgusted, Floyd throws the pledge into the coach's face and says he will play football, but only on his terms. Floyd leaves with his friends to get tickets to an Aerosmith concert. Mitch arrives home after sunrise, but finds his mother has waited for him. She decides against punishment due to the previous evening's hazing incident. Mitch goes to his bedroom, puts on headphones and listens to rock music. Floyd, Wooderson, Slater and Simone travel down a highway en route to purchase Aerosmith tickets.

Cast of characters

In order of appearance:
*Jason London - Pink
*Joey Lauren Adams - Simone
*Milla Jovovich - Michelle
*Shawn Andrews - Pickford
*Rory Cochrane - Slater
*Adam Goldberg - Mike
*Anthony Rapp - Tony
*Sasha Jenson - Don
*Marissa Ribisi - Cynthia
*Deena Martin - Shavonne
*Michelle Burke - Jodi
*Cole Hauser - Benny
*Christine Harnos - Kaye
*Wiley Wiggins - Mitch
*Mark Vandermeulen - Tommy
*Esteban Powell - Carl
*Jeremy Fox - Hirshfelder
*Ben Affleck - O'Bannion
*Jason O. Smith - Melvin
*Christin Hinojosa - Sabrina
*Parker Posey - Darla
*Matthew McConaughey - Wooderson
*Catherine Morris - Julie
*Nicky Katt - Clint
*Monica May - Lisa

Reception

When the film was released on September 24, 1993, it was not one of the most prominent or talked-about films of the year, and few critics reviewed it. 42 reviews have been counted on website Rotten Tomatoes. Only one of those reviews is negative, giving the film a 98% "Certified Fresh" rating. The film has achieved the status of a cult classic over the years. Roger Ebert awarded the film three stars out of four, praising the film as "art crossed with anthropology" with a "painful underside". [ [http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19930924/REVIEWS/309240302/1023 :: rogerebert.com :: Reviews :: Dazed and Confused (xhtml) ] ]

The film was ranked #6 on "Entertainment Weekly" magazine's "The Cult 25: The Essential Left-Field Movie Hits Since '83" list.cite news | last = | first = | coauthors = | title = The Cult 25: The Essential Left-Field Movie Hits Since '83" list | work = Entertainment Weekly | pages = | language = | publisher = | date = September 3, 2008 | url = http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20221982_19,00.html | accessdate = 2008-09-04 ]

oundtracks

"Dazed and Confused" (1993)

# "Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo" - Rick Derringer
# "Slow Ride" - Foghat
# "School's Out" - Alice Cooper
# "Jim Dandy" - Black Oak Arkansas
# "Tush" - ZZ Top
# "Love Hurts" - Nazareth
# "Stranglehold" - Ted Nugent
# "Cherry Bomb" - The Runaways
# "Fox on the Run" - Sweet
# "Low Rider" - War
# "Tuesday's Gone" - Lynyrd Skynyrd
# "Highway Star" - Deep Purple
# "Rock and Roll All Nite" - KISS
# "Paranoid" - Black Sabbath
# "Hurricane" - Bob Dylan

"Even More Dazed and Confused" (1994)

# "Free Ride" - Edgar Winter Group
# "No More Mr. Nice Guy" - Alice Cooper
# "Livin' in the USA" - The Steve Miller Band
# "Never Been Any Reason" - Head East
# "Why Can't We Be Friends?" - War
# "Summer Breeze" - Seals and Crofts
# "Right Place, Wrong Time" - Dr. John
# "Balinese" - ZZ Top
# "Lord Have Mercy On My Soul" - Black Oak Arkansas
# "I Just Want to Make Love to You" - Foghat
# "Show Me the Way" - Peter Frampton
# "Do You Feel Like We Do" - Peter Frampton

Book

In September 1993, St. Martin's Press published a 127-page, softcover book (ISBN 0-312-09466-3) that was inspired by the screenplay by Richard Linklater and compiled by Richard Linklater, Denise Montgomery and others. The book was designed by Erik Josowitz. It was presented as a kind of yearbook that contained essays written by characters from the film as well as profiles on the characters, a timeline focusing on the years 1973 to 1977 and various 1970s pop culture charts and quizzes. It also featured dozens of black-and-white photos from the film. It is said to be based on the happenings at several high schools. The most popular are Austin High School and Texas Stephen F. Austin High School in Austin, Texas, Robert E Lee High School and Lamar High School in Houston, Texas, and Mountain Brook High School outside Birmingham, Alabama.

Some of the material contained in the original 1993 book was reprinted in the 72-page book included with the Criterion DVD release in 2006.

Criterion Collection DVD

A two-disc Criterion Collection boxed-set edition was released on June 6, 2006 in the U.S. and Canada. The set features an audio commentary by Richard Linklater, deleted scenes, the original trailer, the 50 minute "Making Dazed" documentary that aired on the American Movie Classics channel on September 18, 2005, on-set interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, cast auditions and footage from the ten-year anniversary celebration. Also included is a 72-page book featuring new essays by Kent Jones, Jim DeRogatis, and Chuck Klosterman as well as memories from the cast and crew, character profiles (as seen in the original 1993 book) and a mini reproduction of the original film poster designed by Frank Kozik.

The film has also been released on HD DVD.

Lawsuit

In October 2004, three of Linklater's former classmates from Huntsville High School, whose surnames are Wooderson, Slater, and Floyd, filed a defamation lawsuit against Linklater, claiming to be the basis for the similarly named characters on the film. The lawsuit was filed in New Mexico rather than Texas because New Mexico has a longer statute of limitations. [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45614-2004Dec7.html Bummer, Man (washingtonpost.com) ] ]

References

External links

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* [http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid%3A161562 Retrospective article] at the "Austin Chronicle"
* [http://www.filmradar.com/weblog/entry/making_dazed_catch_you_later_dude_ten_years_later/ "Film Radar" Linklater interview]