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Dazed and Confused (film)
Encyclopedia
Dazed and Confused is a 1993 coming of age
comedy
film written and directed by Richard Linklater
. The film'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
. The film depicts a group of teenagers during the last day of school in 1976.
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 10 greatest films of all time in the 2002 Sight and Sound. It also ranked third on Entertainment Weekly
magazine's list of the 50 Best High School Movies. The magazine also ranked it 10th on their "Funniest Movies of the Past 25 Years" list.
The title of the film is derived from the Jake Holmes
song of the same name, popularized by Led Zeppelin
. Linklater approached surviving members of the band for permission to use their songs in the film, but, while Jimmy Page
agreed, Robert Plant
refused.
. The next year's group of 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, the incoming freshman boys are hunted down by the seniors at the local junior high school for paddling
. The incoming freshman girls are also hazed as they are rounded up in the school parking lot by senior girls, covered in mustard, ketchup, flour, and raw eggs, and forced to propose to senior boys.
Freshman Mitch Kramer (Wiley Wiggins
) escapes the hazing with his best friend Carl Burnett (Esteban Powell
) when Carl's mom pulls a shotgun on Fred O'Bannion (Ben Affleck
) but is eventually cornered at his baseball game, where he is violently paddled. O'Bannion, a senior participating in the hazing tradition for a second year after failing to graduate, takes special pleasure in punishing Mitch. Pink gives the injured Mitch 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. Pink and his friend David Wooderson (Matthew McConaughey
), an older guy 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, Top Notch Hamburgers. Mitch is introduced to sophomore Julie Simms (Catherine Morris), with whom he shares a mutual attraction. Then, while cruising again with Pink, Kevin, and Don Dawson (Sasha Jenson
), Mitch 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 fires at their car, narrowly missing. After returning to the Emporium, Mitch 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 and him leaving in a fit of rage.
After the Emporium closes, an impromptu keg party is planned outside of town in a vacant field under one of Austin
's famous "Moon towers" (Moonlight tower
s), attracting most of the seniors. Cynthia, Tony, and Mike arrive at their first keg party. Mike gets threatened by tough guy Clint Bruno (Nicky Katt
). Afterwards, Tony runs into freshman Sabrina Davis (Christin Hinojosa
), whom 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. Mike, suffering from the humiliation of his confrontation with Clint, decides to make a stand, punches him, and gets tackled. The fight is quickly broken up by Pink and Wooderson. Football player Benny O'Donnell (Cole Hauser
) confronts Pink about his refusal to sign the pledge. Pink, the only player to have not signed, believes it violates his individuality and beliefs. Mitch leaves the keg party with Julie. They drive to a nearby hill overlooking town to make out
. Tony gives Sabrina a ride home and they kiss good night.
As night turns to dawn, Pink, David, Don, 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, so they ditch the drugs. Recognizing Pink, the police call football Coach Conrad (Terry Mross). Conrad lectures Pink about hanging out with "losers" and insists that he sign the pledge. Disgusted, Pink says that he might play football, but he is not going to sign the pledge and throws the pledge into the coach's face. Pink leaves with his friends to get tickets to an Aerosmith
concert. Mitch arrives home after sunrise to find that his mother has waited up for him. She decides against punishment but warns him about coming home late again. Mitch goes to his bedroom, puts on headphones
and listens to "Slow Ride" by Foghat
. Pink, David, Ron, and Simone travel down a highway en route to purchase Aerosmith
tickets.
. Film critic Roger Ebert
awarded the film three stars out of four, praising the film as "art crossed with anthropology
" with a "painful underside". In her review for The New York Times
, Janet Maslin
wrote, "Dazed and Confused has an enjoyably playful spirit, one that amply compensates for its lack of structure". Desson Howe, in his review for The Washington Post
, wrote, "Dazed succeeds on its own terms and reflects American culture so well, it becomes part of it". In her review for The Austin Chronicle, Marjorie Baumgarten praised Matthew McConaughey's performance: "He is a character we're all too familiar with in the movies but McConaughey nails this guy without a hint of condescension or whimsy, claiming this character for all time as his own".
Rolling Stone
s Peter Travers praised Linklater as a "sly and formidable talent, bringing an anthropologist's eye to this spectacularly funny celebration of the rites of stupidity. His shitfaced American Graffiti is the ultimate party movie -- loud, crude, socially irresponsible and totally irresistible". In his review for Time
, Richard Corliss wrote, "Linklater is surely no ham-fisted moralist, and his film has lots of attitude to shake a finger at. But it also has enough buoyant '70s music to shake anybody's tail feather, and a kind of easy jubilance of narrative and character". Entertainment Weekly
gave the film an "A" rating, and Owen Gleiberman
wrote, "Yet if Linklater captures the comic goofiness of the time, he also evokes its liberating spirit. The film finds its meaning in the subtle clash between the older, sadistic macho-jock ethos and the follow-your-impulse hedonism that was the lingering legacy of the '60s".
ranked the film #17 on their list of "The Top 50 Cult Films", third on their list of the 50 Best High School Movies, 10th on their "Funniest Movies of the Past 25 Years" list, and ranked it #6 on their "The Cult 25: The Essential Left-Field Movie Hits Since '83" list. Quentin Tarantino
included it on his list of the 12 greatest films of all time in the 2002 Sight and Sound poll.
The Criterion Collection released a two-disc boxed-set edition of the film on June 6, 2006 in the U.S. and Canada. Features included an audio commentary
by Richard Linklater, deleted scene
s, 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 and a mini reproduction of the original film poster designed by Frank Kozik
. Entertainment Weekly gave it an "A" rating and called it a "fine edition grants this enduring cult classic the DVD treatment it deserves".
published a 127-page, softcover book (ISBN 0-312-09466-3) inspired by Richard Linklater's screenplay. It was compiled by Linklater, Denise Montgomery, and others, and designed by Erik Josowitz. It was presented as a kind of yearbook, with character profiles, essays by characters, a time-line 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.
Some of the material contained in the 1993 book was reprinted in the 72-page book included with the 2006 Criterion DVD.
rather than Texas because New Mexico has a longer statute of limitations
. The suit was subsequently dismissed.
Coming-of-age film
Coming-of-age film is a film genre which focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood. Personal growth and change is an important characteristic of this genre, which relies on dialogue and emotional responses, rather than action. The main character is...
comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
film written and directed by Richard Linklater
Richard Linklater
-Early life:Linklater was born in Houston, Texas. He studied at Sam Houston State University and left midway through his stint in college to work on an off-shore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. While working on the rig he read a lot of literature, but on land he developed a love of film through...
. The film's large ensemble cast
Ensemble cast
An ensemble cast is made up of cast members in which the principal actors and performers are assigned roughly equal amounts of importance and screen time in a dramatic production. This kind of casting became more popular in television series because it allows flexibility for writers to focus on...
featured a number of future stars, including Matthew McConaughey
Matthew McConaughey
Matthew David McConaughey is an American actor.After a series of minor roles in the early 1990s, McConaughey gained notice for his breakout role in Dazed and Confused . He then appeared in films such as A Time to Kill, Contact, U-571, Tiptoes, Sahara, and We Are Marshall...
, Jason London
Jason London
Jason Paul London is an American actor, best known for his role as Randall "Pink" Floyd in director Richard Linklater's film Dazed and Confused.-Personal life:...
, Ben Affleck
Ben Affleck
Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt , better known as Ben Affleck, is an American actor, film director, writer, and producer. He became known with his performances in Kevin Smith's films such as Mallrats and Chasing Amy...
, Milla Jovovich
Milla Jovovich
Milla Jovovich December 17, 1975)is an American model, actress, musician, and fashion designer. Over her career, she has appeared in a number of science fiction and action-themed films, for which music channel VH1 has referred to her as the "reigning queen of kick-butt".Milla Jovovich began...
, Cole Hauser
Cole Hauser
Cole Kenneth Hauser is an American film and television actor.-Family background:Hauser was born in Santa Barbara, California, son of Cass Warner, who founded the film production company Warner Sisters, and actor Wings Hauser. His paternal grandfather was Academy Award-winning screenwriter Dwight...
, Parker Posey
Parker Posey
Parker Christian Posey is an American actress. She became known during the 1990s after a series of roles in several well-received independent films. As a result, she has often been referred to as the "Queen of the Indies"....
, Anthony Rapp
Anthony Rapp
Anthony Deane Rapp is an American stage and film actor and singer best known for originating the role of Mark Cohen in the Broadway production of Rent in 1996 and later for reprising the role in the film version and the Broadway Tour of Rent in 2009...
, Adam Goldberg
Adam Goldberg
Adam Charles Goldberg is an American actor, director, producer, and musician.-Early life:Goldberg was born in Santa Monica, California, the son of Donna and Earl Goldberg, a former lifeguard. His father is Jewish and his mother is a "lapsed" Roman Catholic of Irish, French, and German descent...
, Joey Lauren Adams
Joey Lauren Adams
Joey Lauren Adams is an American actress who has appeared in more than thirty films. She is known for her distinctive, raspy voice and for her roles in View Askewniverse films, particularly Mallrats and Chasing Amy, with the latter giving her a Golden Globe for Best Actress nomination.-Career:She...
, Nicky Katt
Nicky Katt
Nicholas Lea "Nicky" Katt is an American actor known for his role as unorthodox teacher Harry Senate on David E. Kelley's Fox drama Boston Public.-Career:...
, and Rory Cochrane
Rory Cochrane
Rory Cochrane is an American actor. He is known for playing Ron Slater in Dazed and Confused, Lucas in Empire Records, and Tim Speedle in CSI: Miami.-Early life:...
. The film depicts a group of teenagers during the last day of school in 1976.
The film grossed less than $8 million at the U.S. box office, but in recent years has achieved cult film
Cult film
A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
status. Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
included it on his list of the 10 greatest films of all time in the 2002 Sight and Sound. It also ranked third on Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
magazine's list of the 50 Best High School Movies. The magazine also ranked it 10th on their "Funniest Movies of the Past 25 Years" list.
The title of the film is derived from the Jake Holmes
Jake Holmes
Jake Holmes is an American singer-songwriter and jingle writer who began a recording career in the 1960s...
song of the same name, popularized by Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
. Linklater approached surviving members of the band for permission to use their songs in the film, but, while Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page
James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...
agreed, Robert Plant
Robert Plant
Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...
refused.
Plot
It is May 28, 1976, the last day of school at Lee High School in the suburbs of Austin, TexasAustin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
. The next year's group of seniors are preparing for the annual hazing
Hazing
Hazing is a term used to describe various ritual and other activities involving harassment, abuse or humiliation used as a way of initiating a person into a group....
of incoming freshmen. Randall "Pink" Floyd (Jason London
Jason London
Jason Paul London is an American actor, best known for his role as Randall "Pink" Floyd in director Richard Linklater's film Dazed and Confused.-Personal life:...
), the school's star football player
High school football
High school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....
, is asked to sign a pledge
Oath
An oath is either a statement of fact or a promise calling upon something or someone that the oath maker considers sacred, usually God, as a witness to the binding nature of the promise or the truth of the statement of fact. To swear is to take an oath, to make a solemn vow...
promising not to take drugs during the summer or do anything that would "jeopardize the goal of a championship season." When classes end, the incoming freshman boys are hunted down by the seniors at the local junior high school for paddling
Spanking
Spanking refers to the act of striking the buttocks of another person to cause temporary pain without producing physical injury. It generally involves one person striking the buttocks of another person with an open hand. When an open hand is used, spanking is referred to in some countries as...
. The incoming freshman girls are also hazed as they are rounded up in the school parking lot by senior girls, covered in mustard, ketchup, flour, and raw eggs, and forced to propose to senior boys.
Freshman Mitch Kramer (Wiley Wiggins
Wiley Wiggins
Wiley Ramsey Wiggins is an American film actor and blogger. A native of Austin, Texas, he is the nephew of Lanny Wiggins, who was a member of Janis Joplin's early band, The Waller Creek Boys....
) escapes the hazing with his best friend Carl Burnett (Esteban Powell
Esteban Powell
Esteban Louis Powell is an American actor.He attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, a magnet school of the Houston Independent School District...
) when Carl's mom pulls a shotgun on Fred O'Bannion (Ben Affleck
Ben Affleck
Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt , better known as Ben Affleck, is an American actor, film director, writer, and producer. He became known with his performances in Kevin Smith's films such as Mallrats and Chasing Amy...
) but is eventually cornered at his baseball game, where he is violently paddled. O'Bannion, a senior participating in the hazing tradition for a second year after failing to graduate, takes special pleasure in punishing Mitch. Pink gives the injured Mitch a ride home and offers to take him cruising
Cruising (driving)
Cruising is a social activity that primarily consists of driving a car. Cruising can be an expression of the perceived freedom of possessing a driver's license. Cruising is distinguished from regular driving by the social and recreational nature of the activity, which characterized by an...
with friends later that night. Plans for the evening are ruined when Kevin Pickford's (Shawn Andrews
Shawn Andrews (actor)
Shawn Andrews is an actor best known for his appearance in the classic cult film Dazed and Confused, where he plays Kevin Pickford, a high school student whose party is ruined when his parents find out what he was up to....
) parents discover he is to host a keg party. Elsewhere, the intellectual trio of Cynthia Dunn (Marissa Ribisi
Marissa Ribisi
Marissa Ribisi is an American actress. She has performed in the films Dazed and Confused, True Crime, The Brady Bunch Movie, Pleasantville, and Don's Plum and television shows such as Felicity, Friends, Grace Under Fire, Watching Ellie, and Tales of the City.-Early life:Ribisi was born Santina...
), Tony Olson (Anthony Rapp
Anthony Rapp
Anthony Deane Rapp is an American stage and film actor and singer best known for originating the role of Mark Cohen in the Broadway production of Rent in 1996 and later for reprising the role in the film version and the Broadway Tour of Rent in 2009...
) and Mike Newhouse (Adam Goldberg
Adam Goldberg
Adam Charles Goldberg is an American actor, director, producer, and musician.-Early life:Goldberg was born in Santa Monica, California, the son of Donna and Earl Goldberg, a former lifeguard. His father is Jewish and his mother is a "lapsed" Roman Catholic of Irish, French, and German descent...
), known as the class nerds, decide to go out and "viscerally" participate in the evening's activities. Pink and his friend David Wooderson (Matthew McConaughey
Matthew McConaughey
Matthew David McConaughey is an American actor.After a series of minor roles in the early 1990s, McConaughey gained notice for his breakout role in Dazed and Confused . He then appeared in films such as A Time to Kill, Contact, U-571, Tiptoes, Sahara, and We Are Marshall...
), an older guy who still socializes with high school students, pick up Kramer and head for the Emporium, a pool hall
Pool hall
A billiard/billiards, pool or snooker hall is a place where people get together for playing cue sports such as pool, snooker or carom billiards...
popular with the teenagers.
As the evening progresses, students loiter around the Emporium, listen to rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, cruise the neighborhood and stop at the local hamburger drive-in, Top Notch Hamburgers. Mitch is introduced to sophomore Julie Simms (Catherine Morris), with whom he shares a mutual attraction. Then, while cruising again with Pink, Kevin, and Don Dawson (Sasha Jenson
Sasha Jenson
Sasha Jenson is an American film and television actor known for his role in the 1993 hit film Dazed and Confused. He is also known for his role in the 1988 horror movie Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, and for having a role in the 1992 hit movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer. His most recent...
), Mitch drinks beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
and smokes marijuana for the first time. They play mailbox baseball
Mailbox baseball
Mailbox baseball or mailboxing is the act of using a baseball bat or other objects to knock over, dent, or smash roadside mailboxes by a passenger in a car. It can be played either as a game, with score kept in a manner similar to baseball, or played simply for aimless fun...
, but a neighborhood resident brandishing a handgun
Handgun
A handgun is a firearm designed to be held and operated by one hand. This characteristic differentiates handguns as a general class of firearms from long guns such as rifles and shotguns ....
catches them and threatens to call the police. They barely escape, but not before the resident fires at their car, narrowly missing. After returning to the Emporium, Mitch 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 and him leaving in a fit of rage.
After the Emporium closes, an impromptu keg party is planned outside of town in a vacant field under one of Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
's famous "Moon towers" (Moonlight tower
Moonlight tower
Moonlight towers are lighting structures designed to illuminate areas of a city at night.The structures were popular in the late 19th century in cities across the United States and Europe; they were most common in the 1880s-1890s...
s), attracting most of the seniors. Cynthia, Tony, and Mike arrive at their first keg party. Mike gets threatened by tough guy Clint Bruno (Nicky Katt
Nicky Katt
Nicholas Lea "Nicky" Katt is an American actor known for his role as unorthodox teacher Harry Senate on David E. Kelley's Fox drama Boston Public.-Career:...
). Afterwards, Tony runs into freshman Sabrina Davis (Christin Hinojosa
Christin Hinojosa
-Filmography:* Dazed and Confused - Sabrina Davis* Roseanne and Tom: Behind the Scenes - Jennifer* The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes - Penelope* Pride & Joy - Brenda's Secret - Laughing Nanny...
), whom 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. Mike, suffering from the humiliation of his confrontation with Clint, decides to make a stand, punches him, and gets tackled. The fight is quickly broken up by Pink and Wooderson. Football player Benny O'Donnell (Cole Hauser
Cole Hauser
Cole Kenneth Hauser is an American film and television actor.-Family background:Hauser was born in Santa Barbara, California, son of Cass Warner, who founded the film production company Warner Sisters, and actor Wings Hauser. His paternal grandfather was Academy Award-winning screenwriter Dwight...
) confronts Pink about his refusal to sign the pledge. Pink, the only player to have not signed, believes it violates his individuality and beliefs. Mitch leaves the keg party with Julie. They drive to a nearby hill overlooking town to make out
Making out
In human sexuality, making out is a sexual euphemism of American origin dating back to at least 1949, and is used synonymously with the terms necking, heavy petting, and hooking up to refer to non-penetrative sex, though "hooking up" is also used in some cultures to imply casual sex.-History:The...
. Tony gives Sabrina a ride home and they kiss good night.
As night turns to dawn, Pink, David, Don, and several friends including Ron Slater (Rory Cochrane
Rory Cochrane
Rory Cochrane is an American actor. He is known for playing Ron Slater in Dazed and Confused, Lucas in Empire Records, and Tim Speedle in CSI: Miami.-Early life:...
) and Simone Kerr (Joey Lauren Adams
Joey Lauren Adams
Joey Lauren Adams is an American actress who has appeared in more than thirty films. She is known for her distinctive, raspy voice and for her roles in View Askewniverse films, particularly Mallrats and Chasing Amy, with the latter giving her a Golden Globe for Best Actress nomination.-Career:She...
) decide to smoke marijuana on the 50-yard line of the football field. The police arrive on the scene, so they ditch the drugs. Recognizing Pink, the police call football Coach Conrad (Terry Mross). Conrad lectures Pink about hanging out with "losers" and insists that he sign the pledge. Disgusted, Pink says that he might play football, but he is not going to sign the pledge and throws the pledge into the coach's face. Pink leaves with his friends to get tickets to an Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
concert. Mitch arrives home after sunrise to find that his mother has waited up for him. She decides against punishment but warns him about coming home late again. Mitch goes to his bedroom, puts on headphones
Headphones
Headphones are a pair of small loudspeakers, or less commonly a single speaker, held close to a user's ears and connected to a signal source such as an audio amplifier, radio, CD player or portable Media Player. They are also known as stereophones, headsets or, colloquially, cans. The in-ear...
and listens to "Slow Ride" by Foghat
Foghat
Foghat are a British rock band that had their peak success in the mid- to late-1970s. Their style can be described as "blues-rock," or boogie-rock dominated by electric and electric slide guitar. The band has achieved five gold records...
. Pink, David, Ron, and Simone travel down a highway en route to purchase Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
tickets.
Cast
- Jason LondonJason LondonJason Paul London is an American actor, best known for his role as Randall "Pink" Floyd in director Richard Linklater's film Dazed and Confused.-Personal life:...
as Randall "Pink" Floyd - Wiley WigginsWiley WigginsWiley Ramsey Wiggins is an American film actor and blogger. A native of Austin, Texas, he is the nephew of Lanny Wiggins, who was a member of Janis Joplin's early band, The Waller Creek Boys....
as Mitch Kramer - Rory CochraneRory CochraneRory Cochrane is an American actor. He is known for playing Ron Slater in Dazed and Confused, Lucas in Empire Records, and Tim Speedle in CSI: Miami.-Early life:...
as Ron Slater - Sasha JensonSasha JensonSasha Jenson is an American film and television actor known for his role in the 1993 hit film Dazed and Confused. He is also known for his role in the 1988 horror movie Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, and for having a role in the 1992 hit movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer. His most recent...
as Don Dawson - Michelle BurkeMichelle BurkeMichelle Burke is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Jodi Kramer in the 1993 Richard Linklater film Dazed and Confused and as Connie Conehead in the movie Coneheads...
as Jodi Kramer - Christine HarnosChristine HarnosChristine Harnos is a Canadian film and television actress. Harnos is known for portraying Jennifer, the wife of main character Mark Greene on ER , Rimmer in the Action/Horror film Hellraiser: Bloodline , Dotty from The Girl Gets Moe film, Sarah Hughes in Cold Dog Soup film, Linda Wyatt in...
as Kaye Faulkner - Adam GoldbergAdam GoldbergAdam Charles Goldberg is an American actor, director, producer, and musician.-Early life:Goldberg was born in Santa Monica, California, the son of Donna and Earl Goldberg, a former lifeguard. His father is Jewish and his mother is a "lapsed" Roman Catholic of Irish, French, and German descent...
as Mike Newhouse - Anthony RappAnthony RappAnthony Deane Rapp is an American stage and film actor and singer best known for originating the role of Mark Cohen in the Broadway production of Rent in 1996 and later for reprising the role in the film version and the Broadway Tour of Rent in 2009...
as Tony Olson - Matthew McConaugheyMatthew McConaugheyMatthew David McConaughey is an American actor.After a series of minor roles in the early 1990s, McConaughey gained notice for his breakout role in Dazed and Confused . He then appeared in films such as A Time to Kill, Contact, U-571, Tiptoes, Sahara, and We Are Marshall...
as David Wooderson - Marissa RibisiMarissa RibisiMarissa Ribisi is an American actress. She has performed in the films Dazed and Confused, True Crime, The Brady Bunch Movie, Pleasantville, and Don's Plum and television shows such as Felicity, Friends, Grace Under Fire, Watching Ellie, and Tales of the City.-Early life:Ribisi was born Santina...
as Cynthia Dunn - Jason O. Smith as Melvin Spivey
- Shawn AndrewsShawn Andrews (actor)Shawn Andrews is an actor best known for his appearance in the classic cult film Dazed and Confused, where he plays Kevin Pickford, a high school student whose party is ruined when his parents find out what he was up to....
as Kevin Pickford - Cole HauserCole HauserCole Kenneth Hauser is an American film and television actor.-Family background:Hauser was born in Santa Barbara, California, son of Cass Warner, who founded the film production company Warner Sisters, and actor Wings Hauser. His paternal grandfather was Academy Award-winning screenwriter Dwight...
as Benny O'Donnell - Milla JovovichMilla JovovichMilla Jovovich December 17, 1975)is an American model, actress, musician, and fashion designer. Over her career, she has appeared in a number of science fiction and action-themed films, for which music channel VH1 has referred to her as the "reigning queen of kick-butt".Milla Jovovich began...
as Michelle Burroughs - Joey Lauren AdamsJoey Lauren AdamsJoey Lauren Adams is an American actress who has appeared in more than thirty films. She is known for her distinctive, raspy voice and for her roles in View Askewniverse films, particularly Mallrats and Chasing Amy, with the latter giving her a Golden Globe for Best Actress nomination.-Career:She...
as Simone Kerr - Christin HinojosaChristin Hinojosa-Filmography:* Dazed and Confused - Sabrina Davis* Roseanne and Tom: Behind the Scenes - Jennifer* The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes - Penelope* Pride & Joy - Brenda's Secret - Laughing Nanny...
as Sabrina Davis - Ben AffleckBen AffleckBenjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt , better known as Ben Affleck, is an American actor, film director, writer, and producer. He became known with his performances in Kevin Smith's films such as Mallrats and Chasing Amy...
as Fred O'Bannion - Parker PoseyParker PoseyParker Christian Posey is an American actress. She became known during the 1990s after a series of roles in several well-received independent films. As a result, she has often been referred to as the "Queen of the Indies"....
as Darla Marks - Deena Martin as Shavonne Wright
- Nicky KattNicky KattNicholas Lea "Nicky" Katt is an American actor known for his role as unorthodox teacher Harry Senate on David E. Kelley's Fox drama Boston Public.-Career:...
as Clint Bruno - Esteban PowellEsteban PowellEsteban Louis Powell is an American actor.He attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, a magnet school of the Houston Independent School District...
as Carl Burnett
Reaction
Dazed and Confused was released on September 24, 1993 in 183 theaters, grossing $918,127 on its opening weekend. It went on to make $7.9 million in North America.Reviews
The film received very positive reviews from critics and has a 98% "Certified Fresh" rating on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
. Film critic Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
awarded the film three stars out of four, praising the film as "art crossed with anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
" with a "painful underside". In her review for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for The New York Times. She served as the Times film critic from 1977–1999.- Biography :...
wrote, "Dazed and Confused has an enjoyably playful spirit, one that amply compensates for its lack of structure". Desson Howe, in his review for The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, wrote, "Dazed succeeds on its own terms and reflects American culture so well, it becomes part of it". In her review for The Austin Chronicle, Marjorie Baumgarten praised Matthew McConaughey's performance: "He is a character we're all too familiar with in the movies but McConaughey nails this guy without a hint of condescension or whimsy, claiming this character for all time as his own".
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
s Peter Travers praised Linklater as a "sly and formidable talent, bringing an anthropologist's eye to this spectacularly funny celebration of the rites of stupidity. His shitfaced American Graffiti is the ultimate party movie -- loud, crude, socially irresponsible and totally irresistible". In his review for Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
, Richard Corliss wrote, "Linklater is surely no ham-fisted moralist, and his film has lots of attitude to shake a finger at. But it also has enough buoyant '70s music to shake anybody's tail feather, and a kind of easy jubilance of narrative and character". Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave the film an "A" rating, and Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman is an American film critic for Entertainment Weekly, a position he has held since the magazine's launch in 1990. From 1981–89, he worked at the Boston Phoenix....
wrote, "Yet if Linklater captures the comic goofiness of the time, he also evokes its liberating spirit. The film finds its meaning in the subtle clash between the older, sadistic macho-jock ethos and the follow-your-impulse hedonism that was the lingering legacy of the '60s".
Legacy
Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
ranked the film #17 on their list of "The Top 50 Cult Films", third on their list of the 50 Best High School Movies, 10th on their "Funniest Movies of the Past 25 Years" list, and ranked it #6 on their "The Cult 25: The Essential Left-Field Movie Hits Since '83" list. Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
included it on his list of the 12 greatest films of all time in the 2002 Sight and Sound poll.
The Criterion Collection released a two-disc boxed-set edition of the film on June 6, 2006 in the U.S. and Canada. Features included an audio commentary
Audio commentary
On disc-based video formats, an audio commentary is an additional audio track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with video...
by Richard Linklater, deleted scene
Deleted scene
In Entertainment, especially the film and television industry, Deleted scenes are parts of a film removed or censored from or replaced by another scene in the final "cut", or version, of a film...
s, 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 and a mini reproduction of the original film poster designed by Frank Kozik
Frank Kozik
Frank Kozik is an American graphic artist who has worked with Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Melvins, The Offspring and Butthole Surfers. Kozik runs Man's Ruin Records, a media outlet and record label, and has published several books including Man's Ruin:...
. Entertainment Weekly gave it an "A" rating and called it a "fine edition grants this enduring cult classic the DVD treatment it deserves".
Dazed and Confused (1993)
- "Rock and Roll, Hoochie KooRock and Roll, Hoochie Koo"Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo" is a rock song written by Rick Derringer. It was first recorded by Johnny Winter with Derringer in 1970. In 1973, Derringer recorded a solo version and it became his only Top 40 chart hit, peaking on the Billboard Hot 100 at #23...
" - Rick DerringerRick DerringerRick Derringer is an American guitarist, vocalist, and entertainer.-1960s:When he was seventeen years old, his band The McCoys recorded "Hang on Sloopy" in the summer of 1965, which became the number one song in America before "Yesterday" by The Beatles knocked it out of the top spot. The song was... - "Slow RideSlow Ride"Slow Ride" is the title of a song composed by "Lonesome" Dave Peverett and recorded by the British rock band Foghat, appearing on their fifth album Fool for the City . This was Foghat's top single, peaking at number 20. It also appears on Foghat Live , which was their best selling album at over...
" - FoghatFoghatFoghat are a British rock band that had their peak success in the mid- to late-1970s. Their style can be described as "blues-rock," or boogie-rock dominated by electric and electric slide guitar. The band has achieved five gold records... - "School's OutSchool's Out (song)Female pop duo Daphne & Celeste, released a cover of the song in 2000. The chorus is based on Alice Cooper's hit of the same name, and some other elements of that song have been retained, although much of the song is "original", in a pop-rap style...
" - Alice CooperAlice CooperAlice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades... - "Jim Dandy" - Black Oak ArkansasBlack Oak ArkansasBlack Oak Arkansas is an American Southern rock band named after the band's hometown of Black Oak, Arkansas. The band reached the height of its fame in the 1970s with ten charting albums released in that decade...
- "TushTush (song)"Tush" was the only single from ZZ Top's fourth album Fandango!. It reached number 20 on the pop chart.The song is a twelve-bar blues in the key of G. The recording was produced by Bill Ham, and recorded and mixed by Terry Manning...
" - ZZ TopZZ TopZZ Top is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "That Little Ol' Band from Texas". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based boogie rock, has come to incorporate elements of arena, southern, and boogie rock. The band, from Houston Texas, formed in 1969... - "Love HurtsLove Hurts"Love Hurts" is the name of a song, written and composed by Boudleaux Bryant. First recorded by The Everly Brothers in July 1960, the song is also well known from a 1975 international hit version by the rock band Nazareth and in the UK by a top 5 hit in 1975 by Jim Capaldi.The song was introduced...
" - NazarethNazareth (band)Nazareth is a Scottish hard rock band, founded in 1968, that had several hits in the UK in the early 1970s, and established an international audience with their 1975 album Hair of the Dog. Perhaps their best-known hit single was a cover of the ballad "Love Hurts", in 1975... - "Stranglehold" - Ted NugentTed NugentTheodore Anthony "Ted" Nugent is an American guitarist, musician, singer, author, reserve police officer, and activist. From Detroit, Michigan, he originally gained fame as the lead guitarist of The Amboy Dukes, before embarking on a lengthy solo career...
- "Cherry BombCherry Bomb (song)"Cherry Bomb" is a 1976 punk-influenced hard rock song by the all-girl band The Runaways off of their self-titled debut album. It is widely regarded by many as the band's signature song. "Cherry Bomb" was also ranked 52nd on VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs...
" - The RunawaysThe RunawaysThe Runaways were an American all-girl rock band that recorded and performed in the second half of the 1970s. The band released four studio albums and one live set during its run. Among its best known songs: "Cherry Bomb", "Queens of Noise", "Neon Angels On the Road to Ruin", "California Paradise"... - "Fox on the RunFox on the Run (song)"Fox on the Run" is a popular glam rock song by the British band Sweet, first recorded in 1974. It was their 14th single and in 1975 reached number 2 on the British single list, 5 in the US, 1 in Australia, 1 in Germany, 2 in the Netherlands and 2 in Norway...
" - SweetSweet (band)Sweet was a British rock band that rose to worldwide fame in the 1970s as one of the most prominent glam rock acts, with the classic line-up of lead vocalist Brian Connolly, bass player Steve Priest, guitarist Andy Scott, and drummer Mick Tucker.Sweet was formed in 1968 and achieved their first... - "Low Rider" - WarWar (band)War is an American funk band from California, known for the hit songs "Low Rider", "Spill the Wine", "The Cisco Kid" and "Why Can't We Be Friends?". Formed in 1969, War was a musical crossover band which fused elements of rock, funk, jazz, Latin, rhythm and blues, and reggae...
- "Tuesday's GoneTuesday's Gone"Tuesday's Gone" is the second track on Lynyrd Skynyrd's first album, "". One of the band's most popular songs, its relaxing pace and serenading guitars have made it a fan staple. The lyrics, featuring themes of a relationship ending because of extensive touring, are similar in mood to the band's...
" - Lynyrd SkynyrdLynyrd SkynyrdLynyrd Skynyrd is an American rock band prominent in spreading Southern Rock during the 1970s.Originally formed as the "Noble Five" in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1964, the band rose to worldwide recognition on the basis of its driving live performances and signature tune, Freebird... - "Highway Star" - Deep PurpleDeep PurpleDeep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...
- "Rock and Roll All NiteRock and Roll All Nite"Rock and Roll All Nite" is a song by Kiss, originally released on their 1975 album Dressed to Kill. It was released as the A-side of their fifth single, with the album track "Getaway." The studio version of the song peaked at No. 57 on the Billboard singles chart, besting the band's previous...
" - KISSKISS (band)Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,... - "ParanoidParanoid (song)"Paranoid" is a song by the British heavy metal band Black Sabbath, featured on their second album Paranoid . It is the first single from the album, while the B-side is the song "The Wizard". It reached number 4 on the UK Singles Chart and number 61 on the Billboard Hot 100...
" - Black SabbathBlack SabbathBlack Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
Even More Dazed and Confused (1994)
- "Free RideFree Ride (song)Free Ride is a song written by Dan Hartman and performed by The Edgar Winter Group. The single, engineered by Jim Reeves, was a top 20 U.S. hit in 1973, hitting number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. The song is sometimes mistakenly attributed to The Doobie Brothers or Boston, perhaps because of...
" - Edgar Winter Group - "No More Mr. Nice GuyNo More Mr. Nice Guy (song)"No More Mr. Nice Guy" is a single by the hard rock group Alice Cooper, taken from the 1973 album Billion Dollar Babies. The single reached #25 on the US charts and #10 on the UK charts, and helped Billion Dollar Babies to reach #1 in both the UK and the US...
" - Alice Cooper - "Livin' in the USA" - The Steve Miller Band
- "Never Been Any ReasonNever Been Any Reason"Never Been Any Reason" is the first track on Head East's debut album Flat as a Pancake, composed by the band's guitarist, Mike Somerville. It is often considered Head East's signature song, peaking at #68 on the Hot 100, and continues to be played on classic rock radio stations in the US a...
" - Head EastHead EastHead East is an American hard rock band originally from South Central Illinois. The band was formed by vocalist John Schlitt, guitarist Mike Somerville, keyboardist Roger Boyd, bassist Dan Birney, and drummer Steve Huston. They met and formed the band while studying at the University of Illinois,... - "Why Can't We Be Friends?Why Can't We be Friends (song)"Why Can't We Be Friends?" is a song by the band War. The song has a simple structure, with the phrase "Why can't we be friends?" being sung four times after each two-line verse amounting to over forty times in under four minutes. It was played in space when NASA beamed it to the linking of Soviet...
" - War - "Summer BreezeSummer Breeze (song)"Summer Breeze" is the title of a song written and recorded by Seals and Crofts that has been covered by The Isley Brothers, Type O Negative, the Three Tenors, and several other artists.-Seals & Crofts version:...
" - Seals and CroftsSeals and CroftsSeals and Crofts is a band made up of Jim Seals and Dash Crofts . The soft rock duo was one of the most successful musical acts of the 1970s. They are best known for their hits "Summer Breeze" and "Diamond Girl"... - "Right Place, Wrong Time" - Dr. JohnDr. JohnMalcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr. , better known by the stage name Dr. John , is an American singer-songwriter, pianist and guitarist, whose music combines blues, pop, jazz as well as Zydeco, boogie woogie and rock and roll.Active as a session musician since the late 1950s, he came to wider...
- "Balinese" - ZZ Top
- "Lord Have Mercy On My Soul" - Black Oak ArkansasBlack Oak ArkansasBlack Oak Arkansas is an American Southern rock band named after the band's hometown of Black Oak, Arkansas. The band reached the height of its fame in the 1970s with ten charting albums released in that decade...
- "I Just Want to Make Love to YouI Just Want to Make Love to YouIn 1961, Etta James recorded the song for her debut album At Last!. Her rendition also served as the b-side to her hit "At Last." In 1996, Etta James' version became popular in the UK after featuring in a Diet Coke ad campaign. As a result, the single was re-released there...
" - Foghat - "Show Me the WayShow Me the Way (Peter Frampton song)"Show Me the Way" is a song written by Peter Frampton, which was originally released on his 1975 album Frampton and as a single, but gained its highest popularity as a song from his 1976 live album Frampton Comes Alive!...
" - Peter FramptonPeter FramptonPeter Kenneth Frampton is an English musician, singer, producer, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist. He was previously associated with the bands Humble Pie and The Herd. Frampton's international breakthrough album was his live release, Frampton Comes Alive!. The album sold over 6 million copies... - "Do You Feel Like We DoDo You Feel Like We Do"Do You Feel Like We Do" is a song by Peter Frampton originally on the Frampton's Camel album released in 1973. The song became one of the highlights of his live performance in following years...
" - Peter Frampton
Book
In September 1993, St. Martin's PressSt. Martin's Press
St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in the Flatiron Building in New York City. Currently, St. Martin's Press is one of the United States' largest publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under eight imprints, which include St. Martin's Press , St...
published a 127-page, softcover book (ISBN 0-312-09466-3) inspired by Richard Linklater's screenplay. It was compiled by Linklater, Denise Montgomery, and others, and designed by Erik Josowitz. It was presented as a kind of yearbook, with character profiles, essays by characters, a time-line 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.
Some of the material contained in the 1993 book was reprinted in the 72-page book included with the 2006 Criterion 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 MexicoNew Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
rather than Texas because New Mexico has a longer statute of limitations
Statute of limitations
A statute of limitations is an enactment in a common law legal system that sets the maximum time after an event that legal proceedings based on that event may be initiated...
. The suit was subsequently dismissed.