QUEUED UP: Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused

Dazed and Confused's balance between criticizing and celebrating adolescent hedonism makes it a trailblazing entry into the stoner-comedy canon.

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QUEUED UP: Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused

POSTED: Wednesday, April 18, 2012, 3:00 PM

Filed Under: Movies

Movie critic (and the guy who compiles our weekly repertory film listings) Michael Gold reviews his favorite Netflix Instant flick of the week.

Sometime in the last 20 years, stoner comedies spun off into their own genre. Granted, pot has a long film history, stretching from the didactic morality of Reefer Madness to Cheech and Chong’s over-the-top antics. But for the most part, marijuana existed on the hazy fringes of the Hollywood screen, where it was occasionally referenced yet never quite depicted.

In the ’90s, though, the film industry mellowed out when Dazed and Confused burst onto the indie scene. This coming-of-age movie is not as bluntly drug-centric as the comedies that followed (think Friday, Half Baked and How High — none of which, regrettably, are on Netflix streaming). Yet director Richard Linklater’s largely plotless exploration of teenage society struck a chord with stoners everywhere by equating its central jock’s drug use with individuality. At the same time, Linklater’s observational style perfectly captures the listlessness underlying its characters’ substance-fueled actions. It’s that balance between criticizing and celebrating adolescent hedonism that makes Dazed and Confused a trailblazing entry into the stoner-comedy canon.

(michael.gold@citypaper.net) (@migold)

Posted by Michael Gold @ 3:00 PM Permalink | 1 comment

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