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THE REWATCHABLES · October 2, 2018

Dazed and Confused

A 1993 comedy / teen directed by Richard Linklater, covered in the complete Rewatchables archive.

ComedyTeen1990sDirected by Richard Linklater
Overall episode#49Source sheet order
Movie year19931990s
Tomatometer94%Critics’ score
Metacritic82View score
Roger Ebert3/4Original star rating
DirectorRichard LinklaterComedy / Teen

FROM THE CONVERSATION

What they said about the movie

The episode argues that Dazed and Confused is a near-perfect, highly rewatchable high-school movie because it captures the social fluidity, low-stakes chaos, and music-soaked texture of teenage life. The hosts praise its cast, soundtrack, one-day structure, and way of moving between cliques without forcing a single protagonist.
Based only on this episode’s transcriptTimes approximateSome speakers unidentifiedExplore the connections

WHY IT WORKS

What made it rewatchable

  1. 01The movie works as a 'hangout' film with a one-day structure that feels immersive and easy to jump into at any point. About 8 min
  2. 02The soundtrack is treated as a major engine of the movie's appeal and identity. Opening minutes
  3. 03The ensemble cast is full of future stars and memorable minor performances. Opening minutes
  4. 04The movie captures high-school hierarchy and social mixing in a way the hosts find more lifelike than many teen films. About 8 min
  5. 05The film's quotable dialogue and running bits make repeated viewing rewarding. About 56 min

WHAT DID NOT WORK

Their main criticisms

  1. moderateMitch Kramer's baseball/pitching scenes are implausible and poorly handled. About 40 min
  2. majorWooderson's comments about freshman girls have aged badly and read as predatory. About 40 min
  3. moderateThe hazing and bullying feel harsher than some viewers now can process. About 24 min
  4. minorSome continuity around who is in which car or scene is a little sloppy. About 1:04 · medium confidence

SCENES THEY KEPT COMING BACK TO

Standout moments

Favorite

Wooderson's pool hall entrance

A slow-motion walk-in set to music that the hosts treat as a signature distillation of the movie.

About 24 min
positive

Mailbox smashing

A nostalgic bit of teenage vandalism and chaos that the hosts find funny and era-specific.

About 24 min
Favorite

Paint prank on O'Bannion

The revenge scene where the prankster gets painted up and humiliated is singled out as hilarious.

About 24 min
positive

Adam Goldberg fight

Praised as a realistic, awkward fight rather than a stylized movie brawl.

About 24 min
Favorite

Ending car ride

The final drive with the whole group together is praised as a perfect, emotionally clean ending.

About 24 min
positive

Parker Posey initiation/hazing

Her shouting, hazing, and bossy energy are cited as one of the funniest parts of the movie.

About 48 min
positive

Wooderson recruiting the nerds to the party

Cited as an improvised Wooderson scene that expands the movie's social web.

About 40 min
critical

Mitch's baseball pitching

Used as the clearest example of a scene that does not work because the actor cannot play baseball.

About 32 min

WHERE THEY DISAGREED

The biggest debates

They agreed About 8 min

Whether Pink Floyd is the central character

Bill Simmons

He is the fulcrum who bridges the different social groups.

Sean Fennessey

He is the movie's social center even without a conventional protagonist.

They left it as a friendly argument About 32 min

Best song for a slow-motion entrance

Sean Fennessey

Can I Live by Black Rob.

Chris Ryan

Cash Rules Everything Around Me by Wu-Tang.

Bill Simmons

Roadhouse Blues / LA Woman or a Doors song.

They partly agreed About 32 min

How bad Mitch Kramer's pitching is

Bill Simmons

The baseball scenes are a legitimate flaw.

Sean Fennessey

The awkwardness partly fits the character and can be forgiven.

No final agreement About 56 min

Whether Jason London should have had a bigger career

Bill Simmons

Pink is important but the actor is a cipher outside this role.

Sean Fennessey

The role works because it doesn't overpower the ensemble.

12 People discussedActors, directors, writers, and producers
very favorableRichard LinklaterBill Simmons: Praised for making a realistic, organic high-school film and for his rigor about period details and song choices. About 8 min very favorableMatthew McConaugheyBill Simmons: Viewed as a breakout star whose Wooderson performance is iconic and central to the movie's legacy. About 24 min favorableBen AffleckBill Simmons: His O'Bannion performance is cited as committed and memorable, especially in the paint scene. About 48 min very favorableParker PoseyChris Ryan: Celebrated for a terrifyingly funny initiation scene and as a memorable high-school type. About 48 min
favorableRory CochraneBill Simmons: Praised for a great stoner performance as Slater, especially his long monologues. About 40 min
mixedJason LondonBill Simmons: Considered important as Pink Floyd, though the hosts debate whether the actor is actually that compelling outside this role. About 32 min
mixedWiley WigginsBill Simmons: His awkwardness is seen as fitting the character, but his baseball scenes are criticized as weak. About 32 min
favorableMichelle BurkeBill Simmons: Mentioned as a performer the hosts liked and expected to become a much bigger star. About 24 min
neutralMilla JovovichBill Simmons: Referenced in the context of Sean Andrews' offscreen relationship and marriage. About 40 min favorableWill SmithBill Simmons: Suggested as a dream addition to the movie if it were recast with a major young Black star. About 40 min
criticalRobert PlantBill Simmons: Mentioned negatively for denying the use of a Led Zeppelin song in the film. About 40 min
neutralTed NugentBill Simmons: Referenced via Wooderson's T-shirt and a separate anecdote about hunting with Nugent. About 56 min
10 Conversation takesSpeakers shown only where the transcript identifies them
Bill SimmonsLoved it

Dazed and Confused

Argues the movie is a defining teen film and one of the great rewatchables.

About 8 min
Chris RyanLoved it

Dazed and Confused

Says it felt immediately like part of his movie lexicon and that he watched it obsessively.

Opening minutes
Sean FennesseyLoved it

high-school realism

Likes that the movie captures social mixing and low-key teenage rituals more truthfully than many teen movies.

About 8 min
Bill SimmonsLoved it

soundtrack

Calls the soundtrack crucial and says Linklater was strict about period-accurate song selection.

About 8 min
Chris RyanLiked it

mailbox breaking / teenage vandalism

Finds the random vandalism and aimless hanging out funny and true to the era.

About 24 min
Sean FennesseyLiked it

Randall 'Pink' Floyd

Sees Pink as the movie's fulcrum, linking jocks, nerds, and stoners together.

About 8 min
Bill SimmonsLoved it

Wooderson at the pool hall

Treats the slow-motion pool hall entrance as one of the movie's signature moments.

About 24 min
Bill SimmonsMixed

Mitch Kramer

Thinks the role partly works because the awkwardness fits the character, even if the actor is not polished.

About 40 min
Sean FennesseyLoved it

one-day structure

Thinks the compressed day-long narrative is a big part of why the movie feels so rewatchable.

About 8 min
Chris RyanLoved it

ending drive

Views the closing car ride as an elegant, emotionally satisfying capper.

About 24 min
5 ThemesThe larger ideas in the discussion

High school as social improvisation

They argue teenage life is less like rigid cliques and more like a fluid series of hangouts, rides, and accidental encounters.

About 8 min

Music as identity

The soundtrack is not just background; it reflects how teens define themselves through music and memory.

About 8 min

Low-stakes rites of passage

They admire how the movie treats small events—beer runs, parties, mini-golf, car rides—as the meaningful moments of adolescence.

About 16 min

Year-to-year hierarchy in high school

The hosts especially like how the film captures juniors becoming seniors and gaining status overnight.

About 24 min

Nostalgia with self-awareness

The movie romanticizes the era while still allowing the speakers to laugh at its silliness and cruelty.

About 8 min
18 Facts and referencesProduction notes and other movies mentioned

Production note

Linklater initially conceived the film as a much more experimental, car-bound ZZ Top/Fandango concept.

About 32 min

Production note

The hosts say the film spent about one-sixth of its budget on music, including a large payment for 'Sweet Emotion.'

Opening minutes · medium confidence

Production note

The beer used for most of the adult-cast drinking scenes was real beer.

About 40 min

Production note

McConaughey's 'L-I-V-I-N' line was reportedly written on set.

About 56 min

Production note

Linklater made character-specific mixtapes for the actors.

About 48 min · medium confidence

Production note

Sean Andrews and Milla Jovovich reportedly became a couple and his role was reduced as a result.

About 40 min

American Graffiti

Used as Linklater's model for making a 70s teen hangout movie for another generation.

About 8 min

The Breakfast Club

Mentioned as an example of a teen movie with more rigid cliques than this one.

About 8 min

School Ties

Cited as one of several early-90s high-school ensemble movies full of future stars.

Opening minutes

Dead Poets Society

Cited as another ensemble youth film that launched careers.

Opening minutes

Friday Night Lights

Used as a partial comparison for the junior-to-senior hierarchy and football culture.

About 24 min

The Firm

Used as a separate Rewatchables tangent and a John Grisham-era touchstone.

About 40 min

A Time to Kill

Referenced in relation to McConaughey's breakout period and Grisham adaptations.

About 40 min

Everybody Wants Some!!

Called the spiritual successor to Dazed and Confused.

About 56 min

True Romance

Referenced when renaming a Rewatchables category after Saul Rubinek.

About 48 min · medium confidence

Deliverance

Used to explain the 'squeal like a pig' joke, which the hosts note is dated.

About 48 min

Boyhood

Cited as another Linklater project focused on realism over time.

About 8 min

Slacker

Referenced as another Linklater film with a quasi-documentary feel.

About 8 min
10 Running jokes and short linesRecurring bits captured from the conversation

High-school girls catchphrase

They repeatedly quote Wooderson's line about girls staying the same age while he gets older.

About 56 min

'Alright, alright, alright'

They joke about the phrase becoming McConaughey's permanent public catchphrase.

About 1:04

'Man' count / Slaterisms

They reference Slater's repeated use of 'man' and his alien/George Washington theories as a beloved bit.

About 56 min

Posing the 'best slow-mo entrance song' question

A recurring playful setup where they compare personal songs for a party entrance.

About 32 min

Movie-quote nostalgia

They talk about using the film for quote games and how the lines lived on before the internet.

About 48 min

Bill Simmons

“That guy's still out there. We gotta get him.”
Opening minutes

Bill Simmons

“I only came here to do two things”
Opening minutes

Bill Simmons

“Be a lot cooler if you did.”
About 1:04

Bill Simmons

“That's what I love about these high school girls”
About 48 min

Bill Simmons

“If these are the best years”
About 1:04

MAKE IT A MOVIE NIGHT

Where to watch

UNITED STATES

Checking where Dazed and Confused is available…

WHAT TO WATCH NEXT

Movies to watch before and after.

Three movies to watch before Dazed and Confused, and three to watch next.

Finding six movies…Three to watch first and three to watch next.
Includes a Rewatchables episodePosters from TMDB.

ON THE MIC

3 voices on this episode

Bill Simmons headshotBill SimmonsThe Rewatchables
Chris Ryan headshotChris RyanThe Rewatchables
Sean Fennessey headshotSean FennesseyThe Rewatchables

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