Dazed and Confused does what all great art should do, evoke a feeling. I didn't see this film when it first came out, and that's probably a good thing. If I would have seen this in my 20s when it came out, it would have gone over my head. The movie is about the last day of school in 1976 and what the kids do in an unnamed town in the U.S. There is no nostalgia, no ruminations on how great it was back then, just what was. Unlike American Graffitti, this isn't a longing look back at our teens and how great or bad those times were, a remembrance with rosy glasses. Nor is it The Breakfast Club, which, when I saw it, spoke to me on a deep level, that the writers understood what I was thinking at the time. It is simply what was, bored teens looking for a good time, waiting for something to happen and, whether they know it or not, waiting for their lives to start with no idea what lies ahead. While I was not a teen of the 70s, nor was drinking my scene, as I watched the film, some feelings came through. The memories of tmy teens, it all came back in a rush. That feeling that something was ahead, that our lives were ahead of us. But it was also tinged with sadness knowing what it is like on the other side. It's been said that youth is wasted on the young. I never really knew what that meant until recently. While my life is not bad, it certainly isn't everything I expected or wanted at that age. The point of all this is that is precisely what art should do, evoke feelings.
While nothing really happens in the film, it is wonderful. It's really fun to watch to see so many future stars in some of their earliest roles including: Ben Affleck, Milla Jovovich, Adam Goldberg, Matthew McConaughey, Parker Posey, and Joey Lauren Adams. For me, it's always fun to see where they started. While this movie may not be for all tastes, it's a lot of fun. It will take anyone back as there are certain experiences that are universal to us all.
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