Have You Seen This? You'd Be A Lot Cooler If You Did...

This movie was released in 1993 and it was not a big hit at all. It has become what they call a 'cult film', which gained popularity by word-of-mouth after it was released on video. It's a very popular movie among people ages 15-30 years old. It's a comedy based in the early 1970's.

"Dazed And Confused" is my all-time favorite movie, and that says it all right there. There is nothing else like it in my opinion, and that's because of the characters and the open playing field they're working on in this movie. The soundtrack is filled with 70's rock anthems and ballads, and the music becomes a character in itself.

Basically "Dazed And Confused" documents the last day of school for a group of Juniors (who are becoming Seniors), who are chasing down 8th Graders (who are now becoming Freshmen). The older girls are tormenting and hazing the younger girls, and the older boys are using their wood shop paddles to beat down the younger boys. There are parties, love stories, drugs and plenty of rock n' roll. You follow a night in the life of all the characters, from the beginning of the school day to the next morning, when they're all hungover and dealing with what happened the night before.

There are plenty of stars here; Ben Affleck, Matthew McConaughey, Mila Jovovich, Parker Posey, Renne Zellweger, Joey Lauren Adams, Jason London, Adam Goldberg, etc. It should be noted that all of these stars weren't popular when this movie was made, which is kind of cool. It was written and directed by Richard Linklater, who also directed movies like "Before Sunrise", "subUrbia" and "Waking Life".

One of my favorite characters in the movie is the stoner Slater, who is played by the unknown Rory Cochran. He delivers a very funny performance, as do all of the characters, including the young Wiley Wiggins, who plays Mitch, the main character among the Freshmen group. He is befriended by some of the older guys after he gets his beating(s), and it's a nice touch because that's normally how it is in high school (or at least it was when I was younger).

There are plenty of classic moments and memorable quotes that you will hear people talk about.

As for the soundtrack, there are two different volumes that were released on CD, featuring songs by KISS, Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, ZZ Top, Nazareth, Peter Frampton, Joan Jett, Black Sabbath, Lynyrd Skynyrd, etc. I'd highly recommend both CD's, but the original soundtrack is the better of the two.

My only complaint about this movie is the lackluster DVD. There are no extras worth anything. I'd love to see a Special Edition DVD that features deleted scenes, commentary by the director and cast members, behind the scenes footage and all of that good stuff you find on really well done DVD packages. Hopefully this will happen someday, because I think it would sell really well. Miramax needs to get on this!