The Austin filmmaker Richard Linklater has had a devoted cult following for many years, but never the break-out commercial hit he deserves.
Linklater’s 2003 film-for-hire, “School of Rock,” made lots of money, but it wasn’t really in the spirit of the director’s best work.
Back in 1993, many of us thought “Dazed and Confused” would do the trick, because it is one of the best high school comedies ever made — much more realistic than “American Graffiti” (1973) and just as funny.
Set on the last day of school in Austin, Texas, in June 1976, the movie ambles in a very entertaining manner, taking in jocks, nerds and everyone in between as they celebrate the end of classes. Linklater had the guts to present ’70s drug use in a frank and low-key manner that neither condemned nor celebrated Bicentennial potheads.
Sadly, the movie was distributed by a subsidiary of Universal Pictures that decided to dump the movie in multiplexes for a quick and wide release that didn’t give “Dazed and Confused” the time it needed for word-of-mouth to build. In 1993, the names of cast members Matthew McConaughey (above), Ben Affleck and Parker Posey didn’t mean anything to most moviegoers so the picture was sorely lacking in star appeal.
Thanks to video and cable screenings, “Dazed and Confused” has gathered a huge following (and a prestigious Criterion Collection special edition DVD).
But, a movie this lively and funny should be seen with an audience and I am thrilled to be hosting a free “Martini and a Movie” showing next Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at the Fairfield Theatre Company.
I will be joined at the screening by one of the savviest movie minds in the area — Drew Taylor — who writes for The Fairfield Weekly and holds down the fort at Media Wave in Fairfield. Drew also happens to be from Austin and is something of a Linklater scholar, so we should have a terrific discussion after the movie.
(The Fairfield Theatre Company is at 70 Sanford St. For more information, visit www.fairfieldtheatre.org of call 259-1036.)
