Dazed and Confused (1993) on Netflix
In a Texas town in 1976, the last day of school brings the seniors' hazing of incoming freshmen. Quarterback Randall "Pink" Floyd is asked to sign a pledge to stay off drugs.
- Netflix3.9/5
- IMDb7.6/10218,990 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes94%
Trailer
Plot summary
School lets out at Lee High School on May 28, 1976, and the seniors carry out the annual hazing of the junior high students who will be freshmen. The younger boys are hunted down and paddled; the girls are gathered in the parking lot by senior girls, Darla among them, doused in flour, raw eggs, ketchup and mustard, and told to propose to senior boys. Freshman Mitch Kramer escapes the first round with his friend Carl Burnett. The coach wants Randall "Pink" Floyd, the team's quarterback, to sign a pledge not to take drugs during the summer, and Floyd has not signed it. Students skip class and plan for a keg party at Kevin Pickford's house, which depends on his parents staying away.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Dazed and Confused (1993)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Wooderson was written as a small part to be cast locally on the cheap. Matthew McConaughey, then a University of Texas film student, was out drinking with his girlfriend at the Hyatt bar, where a bartender friend pointed out casting director Don Phillips, and McConaughey walked over to introduce himself.
- McConaughey built Wooderson's famous line on the spot from a live Jim Morrison record on which the singer says all right four times, and from his idea that the character cared about four things and was driving off to get the fourth.
- Shawn Andrews was cast as Kevin Pickford in what was meant to be a big part, but his behavior towards the other actors cost him: his screen time was cut and handed to McConaughey's Wooderson, much of which was improvised or written on the spot.
- Led Zeppelin's Rock and Roll was meant to close the film. Richard Linklater said he bribed Jimmy Page with LaserDiscs and a recorded personal plea and won him round, but Robert Plant refused, and Linklater wrote in his production journal that he would boycott Plant for life.
- Universal chairman Tom Pollock told casting director Don Phillips to get some nudity into the picture. Chasing an extra $500,000 from the studio, Linklater wrote a scene in which Mike, Tony and Cynthia are flashed by a woman while cruising, and then cut it out again.
- Gramercy president Russel Schwartz sold the film as a stoner comedy against Linklater's wishes, to cash in on the culture war over marijuana: the press kit went out with articles on the drug's resurgence, papers for rolling joints and pot-leaf earrings.
- In October 2004 three of Linklater's old Huntsville High School classmates, who share surnames with three characters, sued him for defamation, filing in New Mexico because its statute of limitations runs longer than Texas's. The suit was dismissed.
- Vince Vaughn came close to playing the bully O'Bannion before Ben Affleck got it, and Claire Danes was wanted for a lead but was too young to leave school. Elizabeth Berkley, Mira Sorvino, Ashley Judd, Brendan Fraser, Jon Favreau and Ron Livingston were also considered.
