Greetings,
Isn't it nice when a bunch of your friends get together to say nice things about you and someone films it? What? That never happened to you? Well, it happened to Richard Linklater and this is the result.
21 Years: Richard Linklater is a 2014 documentary celebrating, you guessed it, 21 years on the career of, you guessed it again, director Richard Linklater. I found this film on my OnDemand and thought, why not? I do like me some Richard Linklater. Not all, but much. Here, several of his works are discussed by some of the actors who were involved in them. It's pretty much a big "behind the scenes" special, which, if you know me, I think is a very good thing. And we do get some fantastic stories, which is what I came for.
Some of the films discussed are Slacker, Dazed and Confused, School of Rock, one of my favorite Vincent D'Onofrio films, The Newton Boys, and my most very favorite trilogy, the Before Trilogy. So, naturally, we get great stories from these films, because these films are great stories. As far as I know, in some cases. Oh, and the actors we hear from are some amazing raconteurs themselves. We get to hear from Jack Black, Julie Delpy, Billy Bob Thorton, just to name a few. But, of course, Matthew McConaughey's there and he's got a steal the show with all of his...McConaughey-ing. You know what I'm referring to! And, yes, it is quite hilarious, even I have to admit that. However, if I had to pick a favorite interviewee, it would be Ethan Hawke. I've always been on the fence where he is concerned. Sometimes I like him, other times, not so much. His work, I mean. But he had so many good things to say here. First of all, I loved hearing him talk about his experience with Richard and Julie with the Before Trilogy. He also recalled a time when Richard hds accused himself of being pretentious. Ethan's response? "You're not pretentious. I'M pretentious". He admitted it! He's a celebrity who admitted it. God bless. But the best was when he said something about how making films should not be about making money or getting awards. It should be about creating something. Creating art. Something that one can be proud of, and that should be the top priority. Yep. And then the Hollywood Monster came down and ate him. Okay, maybe that didn't happen, but saying stuff like "making money isn't the most important thing" might get him in trouble in that industry. Also, I guess he'll never work for Marvel. Boom! But the good news for him is that I might just let him be my friend now. He'll be thrilled. I'm sure of it.
One other thing that I found interesting was the use of animation to illustrate some of the stories that were being told. It kind of came out of nowhere and would show up randomly, which is one of the complaints I read from other reviews. It was nothing that looked too fancy, but it was still good and I liked it. I liked that it was unexpected. I found it amusing. Was it a gimmick? Probably, but I won't judge too harshly there.
Anyway, another complaint I heard was that it felt less like an actual documentary and more like some kind of TV special, especially since it's fairly short. Again, I agree with that assessment, but I don't mind it. Yes, it does feel like a retrospective special on AMC or something, but what's wrong with that? It's still interesting and still entertaining. That's more than I can say for some "official" documentaries I've seen.
So, I suppose if you're looking for some hard hitting, controversial documentary than this one is probably not for you. But if you are like me and enjoy hearing about the tales from behind the screen when it comes to movies, or if you're a fan of Richard Linklater's work, I say check it out. Like I said, you're going to hear some informative and hilarious anecdotes. Not a good enough reason? Well, then, just do it for the McConaughey.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
