There’s something about these Richard Linklater films, man. It’s hard to know exactly how to describe the phenomenon that is a Linklater picture, with each of his movies containing a spirit that can’t be seen, but a spirit that has such a tangibility that audience members come away from a project enveloped by his world building, his characters, and his themes. His latest film, Everybody Wants Some, manages to be so many things at once: a sports film, a coming of age story, a brilliant comedy, and a deep rumination on college life and the human condition.
Review originally published during the SXSW Film Festival at Awards Circuit.
A Teacher, much like other films deal that with taboo subject matter, has the unenviable task of balancing the melodramatic aspects of the story as well as a need to justify every character’s motivations. And try though it may, it never seems to elevate itself from the basics of the story and the script moves from point A to point B without much in the way of shock. However, the tale is elevated by some incredibly nuanced acting from Lindsay Burdge and Will Brittain and just enough visual panache to keep the audience satisfied.