I am in a rather untenable position here. I agree with all of the positive things said in the other reviews, but the film just does not jell together properly. The party in the woods was real; the hazings, although they did not happen in my experience ( I graduated high school a year before the film takes place) are not unrealistic, and the few glimpses we see of adults are not bad. The hangouts were all there, as was the magical attraction to most events including alcohol. However, there was no underlying theme here; just a series of scenes, all realistic and interesting individually, but not adding up to a cohesive entity. What was the point of all this? There are a few reference to standing up for yourself and wondering what the furture holds, but there was nothing that gave the film a direction. I know it could be argued that the point of the film was that there was no overwhelming direction in these guys' lives, but the film didn't even make that clear.
A few other things just didn't work here: Pink is way too small to be a star quarterback. Come on, now. A scrawny guy like that, wearing a necklace to boot, in a Texas town, just wouldn't be playing football. The Ben Affleck character is real enough, but he is disposed of halfway through the film. Wouldn't his comeuppance have been better placed at the film's climax? The fight scene at the end is pointless -- I know, many drunken fights are pointless, but if you are going to position this at the final 20 minutes of the film it should have some emotional power to it. Also, not trying to seem like a purist here, but NOT EVERYBODY SMOKED POT IN THOSE DAYS. Since it is a heavy influence on this film, one has to compare it to "American Graffiti." That film did have a sense of direction, of meaning, and some astute comments about growing older, maintaining one's sense of innocence, and remembering an era. This film is more aimless. It is possible that it tries a little too hard -- giving a little information about a lot of characters and thereby coming up with nothing, instead of paring down the characters and making us feel a little more sympathy for them. I felt nothing for these characters, in spite of the time-period connection I should have felt.
A few other things just didn't work here: Pink is way too small to be a star quarterback. Come on, now. A scrawny guy like that, wearing a necklace to boot, in a Texas town, just wouldn't be playing football. The Ben Affleck character is real enough, but he is disposed of halfway through the film. Wouldn't his comeuppance have been better placed at the film's climax? The fight scene at the end is pointless -- I know, many drunken fights are pointless, but if you are going to position this at the final 20 minutes of the film it should have some emotional power to it. Also, not trying to seem like a purist here, but NOT EVERYBODY SMOKED POT IN THOSE DAYS. Since it is a heavy influence on this film, one has to compare it to "American Graffiti." That film did have a sense of direction, of meaning, and some astute comments about growing older, maintaining one's sense of innocence, and remembering an era. This film is more aimless. It is possible that it tries a little too hard -- giving a little information about a lot of characters and thereby coming up with nothing, instead of paring down the characters and making us feel a little more sympathy for them. I felt nothing for these characters, in spite of the time-period connection I should have felt.