Dazed and Confused
The classic high school stoner flick is back and better than ever in a two-disc Criterion edition.
By Aaron Hillis
Movie/Disc: 4 stars
Criterion ($29.98)
THE MOVIE: Austin hero Richard Linklater's sophmore effort, following his quirkily triumphant feature Slacker, casually parties with an ensemble of anytown high schoolers on their last day of class in 1976. Made in 1993, when very little was expected from the waning teen comedy genre, this freeform tapestry of sharp character sketches got away with a cast of studio disapproved no-names that today looks like a psychic prediction of the future A-list (Matthew McConaughey, Ben Affleck, Renée Zellweger, et al.) Dazed doesn't offer much hindsight about the era, but the dialogue is hilariously quotable, the period textures are precise and hardly parodic, and who could forget that bitchin' soundtrack dialing from Aerosmith to ZZ Top? The backbone to it all is the ritual torch-passing that allowed incoming seniors to abuse poor freshmen, an alarmingly frank touch that avoids the one-sided sentimentality of an American Graffiti-style pastiche.
THE DISC: Avoid the old Universal release and "just keep livin" with Criterion's vastly improved double-disc edition, which features a hefty bong load of deleted scenes, audition tapes, and behind-the-scenes footage, and more interviews that you'll know what to do with. Linklater's studio-bashing commentary couldn't be more candid about his collaborative process, and Kahane Corn's passionate 50-minute documentary features footage from the cast and crew's ten-year reunion.
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Copyright © 2008 Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., Inc.