Everybody Wants Some!!

Director: Richard Linklater
Starring: Blake Jenner, Zoey Deutch, Ryan Guzman, Tyler Hoechlin, Glen Powell, Wyatt Russell, Temple Baker, J. Quinton Johnson, Will Brittain, Juston Street, Dora Madison Burge
Running Time: 116 min.
Rating: R

★★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)

Richard Linklater has this gift of being able to extract meaning from what on the surface should seem like nothingness. It appears as if he's more interested in watching people hang out than plot, conflict or any kind of narrative structure we'd normally associate with crowd-pleasing movies like the one he's made. Even its jarringly punctuated title, Everybody Wants Some!!, doesn't seem to mean anything aside from the obvious Van Halen shout-out, or at least means as less as its previous working title, That's What I'm Talking About. It would be all too easy to write this off as a self-indulgent nostalgia trip for its director, who chose as a follow-up to his recently Best Picture-nominated Boyhood, a movie centering around a bunch of 80's college jocks looking to get as drunk, laid and stoned as possible in the last days before classes start. And yet, it's still strangely wonderful.

This has been Linklater's specialty, dating all the way back to 1993's Dazed and Confused, to which this will be most closely compared, and for good reason, since he's labeled this its "spiritual sequel." That's a good way to put it as the tie that binds both (besides their period settings and autobiographical angle) is that laid-back, fly-on-the-wall quality of watching authentic characters hang out, only to realize by the end how much you've grown to care about them. It's the opposite of self-indulgent, as it never really asks you think or feel anything and the beats of its bare bones story hardly register as it's unfolding. You just watch and listen, losing yourself in it.

Working also as the perfect follow-up to the experimentally significant Boyhood, it picks up at the same life stage, only with entirely new characters and set in a different era. Carrying with it the same sense of almost improvisational spontaneity that's become Linklater's calling card, you rarely feel your strings being pulled.  And of course, the soundtrack rocks. If there are certain filmmakers who need to spread their wings and branch out in different directions, he's definitely not among them. Not when he does this so well.

The year is 1980 and college freshman Jake (Blake Jenner) has arrived at the off-campus house he'll be sharing with the other players on the Southeast Texas State University baseball team. A star pitcher in high school, he's now suddenly the small fish in a much larger pond, a reserved, quiet guy surrounded by teammates from different walks of life, each with wildly distinctive personalities. There's team captain McReynolds (Tyler Hoechlin), the best player and seemingly the only one with legitimate major league potential; Jake's roommate, Billy "Beuter" Autry (Will Brittain), a farmboy with a girlfriend back home; Scheming, intellectual pick-up artist, Finnegan (Glen Powell), who's often the ringleader of a group that also includes fellow party animals Roper (Ryan Guzman), Dale (J. Quinton Johnson) Plummer (Temple Baker) and Brumley (Tanner Kalina). There are also two tranfer students with completely unhinged pro-level pitcher, Jay (Juston Street) and bearded, stoned philosopher Willoughby (Wyatt Russell).

Upon their arrival, the coach promptly lays down two rules: No alcohol in the house and no women upstairs. Within 12 hours, both are broken and whatever superficial differences these teammates have evaporate in their united quest to attain both, finding them party hopping in search of the wildest time. What Jake finds instead is Beverly (Zoey Deutch), a quirky theater student with whom he connects on a level that's far different than what his new friends are experiencing. As he comes out of his shell and the guys take him in as one of their own, there's still that looming issue of classes beginning in a matter of days, and while they might be too stoned, drunk or hung over to notice it right now, the rest of their lives are about to start.

Considering this is a movie about a college baseball team, there's only one extended sequence late that takes place on the field. It's worth noting that section works really well because so much quality time is spent with all these personalities beforehand. We're either at the house, in the car prowling for girls or at a nightclub or party from the minute we're introduced to the team. It's one of those movies that will have detractors complaining that "nothing happens" throughout its running time. To an extent, they'd be right since so little occurs in terms of actual action, at least as we're accustomed to seeing it in a coming-of-age comedic drama like this. But it's also a movie where everything happens since Linklater has the ability to capture what's it's like just hanging around, and in talking about seemingly innocuous things, revealing more than any manufactured conflict would. Much of that can be attributed to the casting, with a group of little known actors who so believably slide into the skin of these early 80's jocks that leave little doubt that we're watching or listening to anyone other than the authentic article.

As the protagonist, Jake (serviceably played by Jenner) might be the least compelling character, if only because he's our entranceway into a world where everything seems to be happening around and to him, dragged along for the ride, but quickly adapting. The movie really belongs to Glen Powell as Finnegan who steals every scene in a way reminiscent of Matthew McConaughey's big breakout in Dazed and Confused. He's goofy when necessary, but the smartest and most cunning of the bunch, frequently infusing the story with a surprisingly amount of pathos. It's when he's on screen (which is nearly the entire running length) and eventually when Zoey Deutch enters the picture as Jake's love interest, Beverly, that the movie feels most alive and real. The scenes between them carry a realistic Before Sunrise-like vibe that not only takes the film to an entirely different and welcome place thematically, but to a new setting as well, with the jocks finding themselves at an artsy costume party thrown by the theater students. This entire sequence, and it's results, represent the movie's high-water mark, both visually and in terms of its meaning for the characters.

Whether it's that party, or a punk concert earlier, there's this idea so perfectly captured by Linklater that the social barriers present in high school now cease to exist in this four-year universe where everyone can indiscriminately go from party to party adapting to a different crowd and taking on new identities. And despite the script being a semi-personalized account of his own college experiences and undoubtedly conjuring up memories for those with similar ones, he manages to show this without relying exclusively on nostalgia. Sure, the period details such as the costuming, production design and music are spot-on, but it's just there because we are, rarely drawing attention to itself or stopping for conversations that unnecessarily remind us the era we're in.

In the midst of all this, it also manages to be genuinely funny, and not in the frat boy, toilet humor kind of way the trailers falsely implied. Many of the gags and one-liners are smart, playing off the characters' personality quirks and absurdity of various situations, which is becoming increasingly hard to do well in an R-rated comedy. At nearly two hours, there's a strong argument to be made certain scenes needed tightening and trimming, but that's almost always the case of late. At least here we're given extra time with people worth spending it with. And it would all probably play even better upon a rewatch, as there's a hypnotizing quality about this that practically invites it. Something about it is hard to shake, suggesting a lengthy shelf life for both the film and careers of its stars.

It's tempting to say Linklater's recent work invites comparisons to Cameron Crowe due to the increasingly autobiographical nature of his output, but that's not entirely accurate since he's never been as transparent a filmmaker. This will turn some people off, while others appreciate his dedication to showing instead of telling, wearing us down to the point that we're forced to admit he's on to something with these characters, some of whom may or may not strike a chord of recollection in our own lives. And it's because of his almost maddeningly laid-back approach that the ending feels so right, revealing an unexpected depth that further justifies the film's existence. It's only when considering a key character's name and the phrase written in class in the final scene, that we realize how true the tagline is that they "came for a good time, not a long time."
                    

Jem and the Holograms

Director: John M. Chu
Starring: Aubrey Peeples, Stefanie Scott, Hayley Kiyoko, Aurora Perrineau, Juliette Lewis, Ryan Guzman, Molly Ringwald, Nathan Moore, Barnaby Carpenter, Ryan Hansen
Running Time: 118 min.
Rating: PG

★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)

When envisioning a big screen adaptation of 80's cartoon and Hasbro toy line, Jem and the Holograms, it's unlikely anyone expected to see this. Or if box office is any indication, possibly never see, as it barely recouped its $5 million budget on route to becoming one of the biggest financial flops of 2015. The undereported story is just how insane and ambitious it is, admirably, if misguidingly, attempting to appeal to two entirely different audiences that couldn't be further apart on the moviegoing spectrum.

While small in number, fans of the original show (with which I'm only mildly familiar), now in their 30's and 40's have no reason to see this unless its a painstakingly faithful interpretation of what they grew up on. And yet there's this entire segment of the female teen demographic too young to even know of it who also needs catering to. On top of that, you have to also make a good film from a fairly ridiculous material that definitely doesn't lend itself to the big screen treatment at a budget that low.It's important to get that out the way because those circumstances heavily inform the fascinatingly flawed end result.

As an adaptation of the cult cartoon, it's a failure, if we're assuming the goal of a successful adaptation is to remain true to the source material and service its fans. But as a standalone film, its kind of intriguing how (for a while at least), the property is taken dead seriously, and why as a filmgoing culture, we take issue with that unless your name is Christopher Nolan. Using that criteria, the G.I. Joe and Transformers franchises were more of a bastardization of the original material than this because of the silliness and constant winking at the audience. Well, that, and they're terrible. And as a fan of both in my youth, it's easy to imagine how Jem fans feel knowing the movie in their heads never materialized because its creators insisted on a "reinterpretation" for current audiences that sucked the spirit from the original. But let's be honest: a big budgeted Jem movie loaded with mindless CGI action could have actually earned all the vitriol this received. So at least be glad they didn't go there.

Chu's version has serious issues, but many of them are reined in by the fact that it's low-budget indie that feels like one. With its documentary-style approach, ruminations on fame and identity and its incorporation and examination of social media, the movie has its moments, a few of them strangely moving. Its closest cousin in tv-to-film adaptation just might be Michael Mann's disappointing reboot of his own Miami Vice. Like that, this abandons all semblance of its inspiration in favor of sometimes causing exhausting bouts of narrative boredom. And also like that film, its beautiful to look at, with cinematographer Alice Brooks making the absolute most of what she's given while the costume design will come close to matching what fans had in their heads.

Where Jem veers of course is in its predictably desperate attempt to appeal to a mainstream audience of teen girls who likely have no interest in it. Had it truly committed to the tone of its material in the first half and plowed straight through without blinking, this could have been a far different conversation. It would have also made even less money, if that's possible. But this isn't disposable, manufactured junk, and while it's fun to kick a movie while its down, I'd at least prefer it be one with no artistic ambition whatsoever. This contains worthwhile ideas, as woefully executed as they may occasionally be.

Shy teen Jerrica Benton (Aubrey Peeples), and her younger, biological sister Kimber (Stefanie Scott) are living in San Bernardino Valley, California with their Aunt Bailey and foster sisters, Aja (Hayley Kiyoko) and Shana (Aurora Perrineau). With the family about to be evicted from their house, Jerrica and Kimber are still trying to process the death of their scientist father, whom we glimpse in home movie flashbacks with his final invention, a small robot called Synergy. To cope, Jerrica pours her heart out in song, belting out acoustic ballads in her bedroom late at night. But when the social media obsessed Kimber uploads one of those performances onto the internet, chaos ensues, with Jerrica's singing alter ego "Jem" becoming a viral sensation that catches the attention of coldy ambitious Starlight Enterprises CEO Erica Raymond (Juliette Lewis), who wants her on her label.

Desperately wanting Jem on her label, Erica reluctantly agrees to a package deal that would include Jerrica's sisters as her backing band. So it's off to L.A. where the girls will undergo training to launch their massive transformation into worldwide pop stars with Starlight employee Rio (Ryan Guzman) acting as their chaperone. But after originally singing to escape, Jerrica's suddenly facing an identity crisis in the midst of such attention, eventually finding herself torn between fame and family.

The movie opens in a documentary-style not unlike a found footage film and features some really good handheld camera work that takes us into these girls' lives and gives us a feel for their personalities. All of it seems surprisingly realistic, and Ryan Landels' script at least seems plugged in to what it's like for this age group to be living their lives online, cleverly incorporating actual viral videos into the narrative at inspired moments. While many of these choices could have easily been made for budgetary reasons, it fits the material and tone Chu's going for, even as little as it relates to the original property he's adapting.

There's no mistaking the intention was to bring these characters and the story very much into the here and now. Unfortunately, the Jem video that Kimber uploads is indistinguishable from the millions of others posted everyday from aspiring singers all over the world, making the resulting windfall of sudden attention seem a bit silly. She has a good voice, so how hard could it have been to pick a song that wasn't completely forgettable?

More memorable is the entrance of a scenery-chewing Juliette Lewis's Erica Raymond, who takes what has been a fairly straightforward, even occasionally touching depiction of orphan lives, a caring aunt struggling to make ends meet and a deceased parent, and appears to move this more toward what fans expected (hoped?) to see from a Jem movie. The handheld camera work stops exactly when Erica flies to the girls out to L.A. to be taken under wing and makes them abandon all social media. This transition is a small, but important detail that's gone overlooked, proving this does contain ideas, if not necessarily ones fans of the cartoon could ever get on board with.

The expectation at this point is that the film seems destined to evolve into some kind of music industry satire in the vain of 2001's surprisingly subversive Josie and the Pussycats feature. Instead, it actually gets gloomier and more serious with much time spent on Jerrica's identity crisis, as the very persona she cultivated to hide is suddenly the most famous singer in the world. The line the screenplay attempts to draw between the two is so thick it's tempting to draw comparisons to something like Supergirl, until remembering this is neither a superhero or action movie and the closest we get to fantasy is a complicated scavenger hunt involving the Synergy robot (which eerily resembles EVE from WALL-E).

For a project even very loosely based on a cartoon, it's still it's kind of remarkable just how moody and angsty it gets. There's a lot of soul searching from Jerrica, dragging the film to 118 minutes for the purpose of bludgeoning viewers over the head with a simplistic message of female empowerment that turns this into the cotton candy convection we initially feared it could be with the director of Justin Beiber: Never Say Never at the helm. And that's too bad because even in the midst of this nonsense are some genuine flashes of inspiration, like the band's improvisation during a blackout performance or Jem's comical encounter with an overzealous security guard.

Even the developing romance between her and Rio isn't pushed down our throats, paying off with believable restraint, which in all fairness probably has more to do with the studio's desire to maintain a PG rating than screenwriting nuance. And they picked the right actress to play Jem, as Nashville's Aubrey Peeples (giving off vibes that land somewhere between Kristen Stewart and Zooey Deschanel) is not only pretty and talented, but has the pipes necessary to deliver on stage as Jerrica's alter ego. We're left with the impression she would have worked in any incarnation of a Jem movie that got released and comes out of this better than many others would. When Jerrica finally completes and accepts her complete transformation into full-fledged pop star, Ziggy Stardust face paint and all, Peeples even seems to look the part, which could only add to the frustration of hardcore fans wishing they got a different film. 

The rest of the girls make their strongest impressions in that opening half hour before literally and figuratively surrendering the spotlight to Peeples. Stefanie Scott follows not so closely behind in screen impact, with Aurora Perrineau and Hayley Kiyoko eventually relegated to background players. That's kind of disappointing considering how integral they seemed in the opening minutes.

Similarly, Molly Ringwald radiates such pure warmth and kindness in her few scenes as Aunt Bailey that it's hard not to wish more were also done with her. But she does have one fantastic encounter with the aforementioned Juliette Lewis, who digs in her heels to absolutely kill it in a bitchy role that was originally filled by a man in the original cartoon, or more specifically Guzman's character. I'm still unsure Lewis' performance even necessarily belongs in the movie we got so much as the one she wants it to be, but it's hard to argue against her being the most entertaining thing in it.

The music performed by the band is mainstream pop, and as far as that goes, it's catchy enough and better than expected. In a perfect world with little regard for commercial prospects, we may have gotten something that veered closer to rock or even punk (think The Runaways or Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains), but that was never going to happen. If this was to be a complete reimagining that takes the characters into the current musical landscape, only pop would have accomplished that. It's unfortunate, but also underlines the inherent difficulties in updating retro material that needs to be aimed at two generations with such wildly disparate tastes. It's actually the film, more than Jerrica, suffering from the identity crisis, eventually falling on the side of teen empowerment when the preceding hour suggested more serious potential. 

It speaks volumes that that fans and critics all seem to be in agreement that the best scene comes during the end credits. Not because they're right, but because it's systematic of the Marvelization of pop culture, in which movies have become "franchises" and "universes" littered with easter eggs and commercials for  sequels imbedded into the narrative. It might be the only scene that pays direct homage to the original material in a way any disgruntled fan could get behind. In other words, it's pure fan service and nothing more. The movie they "wanted to see" and never will. And there's a really good chance that would have been awful.

This somewhat misguided project has enough problems that I can't comfortably recommend it with a straight face, but at least they're understandable ones given the scope. And that's coming from someone with no dog in the fight, watching primarily to discover if it deserves its designation as worst of the year for reasons other than losing a lot of money. It doesn't. If anything, Jem and the Holograms is a case study demonstrating the perils and pitfalls of crafting an entire film as setup and origin story. But at times it also highlights the strengths of such an approach, culminating in one of the few near-misses worth seeing just to say you did.