Top Ten Richard Linklater Films

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Top Ten Richard Linklater Films

Richard Linklater is one of the best indie directors working today. Although the quality of his movies had somewhat diminished in recent years, he still remains one of the best directors when it comes to crafting amazing dialogue and strong characters. Most of his movies deal with the passage of time and existential themes, but some were made with the larger audiences in mind. Here are ten of his best films along with a couple of honorable mentions.

10. Where’d You Go, Bernadette

An overly criticized flick, Where’d You Go, Bernadette is certainly very messy. Its third act should have been at least half of the movie. The structure is definitely very odd here. Still, Cate Blanchett shines in such an interesting role, the movie is very sweet in its family dynamics and the ending is quite moving. It could have been much better, though, so that is why it only gets the tenth spot on this list.

9. School of Rock

This has to be the most populist movie that Richard Linklater has ever produced, and as such, I found it quite disappointing. The second half was overly conventional and very boring as a result. Still, Jack Black is terrific in what might be his finest performance so far. The flick is also very humorous with many very funny lines of dialogue. It’s a fun little film, but I’d come to expect more from Linklater.

8. Dazed and Confused

Dazed and Confused has a great attention to detail and it recreates the 70s decade perfectly, the actors all did a nice job, the score is good and the characterization in particular is very good, but it is reserved emotionally speaking and it never has the necessary new or interesting layers to it being just a basic teen movie. It also lacks the signature sophisticated dialogue that the director is famous for. It is fantastic as pure entertainment goes, but as a Linklater movie, it is pretty underwhelming and overrated.

7. Waking Life

Waking Life is self-indulgent, there is no doubt about it. It also lacks a unifying structure as its various threads and characters remain unconnected. Still, it remains the better of the two animated efforts from this director due to amazing metaphysical discussions within the movie that make it a joy for anyone longing for some philosophical movies. Also, its ethereal animation accompanied its dream storyline stupendously.

6. Last Flag Flying

This one just might be the director’s most underrated feature. It lacks ambition, there is no doubt about it, but the story is very emotional and it struck the right balance between dramatic and comedic. The emotional beats all hit, but so did the jokes. That’s because the dialogue is very well written and its actors share such a great dynamic. It was wonderful seeing Bryan Cranston, Laurence Fishburn and Steve Carell click so well and have so much fun together.

5. SubUrbia

I know that I had already said this about the above film, but scratch that I guess as SubUrbia is clearly the biggest underdog among the entire Linklater oeuvre. Alienation, frustrations with society and the slacker way of life are superbly explored in this dialogue-heavy, stage-like movie that also features one of the most memorable protagonists in any of the director’s films. It’s strangely condemning to its characters at times, but still it ranks among Linklater’s most sophisticated outings.

4. Tape

Two friends get together and uncover past trauma that happened ten years ago while in high school. One of the guys apparently raped a girl back then, so Vince the protagonist tapes his confession and brings the girl over to stir drama. Yes, this is a very juicy movie in its drama and it’s hugely entertaining throughout. But the performances from all three of its stars are simply fantastic and the movie explores this particular conflict to its most minute detail. It is the most thrilling and most fun Linklater movie that also deserves much more love out there.

3. Before Sunrise

The Before trilogy remains the quintessential Linklater work and his most romantic. While the third movie was a major disappointment, the first two remain classics. The original gets the third place on this list. This is where we first met Celine and Jesse, a French woman and an American man, as they strolled around beautiful Vienna and shared many insightful, interesting conversations that ranged from smaller talk to the most metaphysical of discussions. Not only is this movie very clever, but it’s also unbelievably romantic and charming.

2. Before Sunset

As amazing as Sunrise clearly was, Sunset was even better, which is crazy to think about, but yes, this one ranks among the greatest sequels of all time. Celine and Jesse get to have even smarter, more philosophical musings on life in this installment while the movie still remains immensely romantic and highly enjoyable in tone and acting. But the biggest reason why it trumps even its stupendous predecessor lies in its more mature tone as it deals with the two grieving over their lost nine years in such a palpably powerful manner.

1. Boyhood

Boyhood is a brilliant, truly groundbreaking movie in its 12-year filming period which resulted in the protagonist literally growing up before our very eyes. However, it’s not just a gimmick movie, but a timeless masterpiece, being the only movie in the history of cinema that truthfully depicts how time and the passing of it works in humans. It deals with regrets, life expectations and disappointments as well as how smaller events help shape a person just as much as the bigger ones. The script and dialogue are simply impeccable and so are the performances and the technical aspects. Consequently, it is not just Richard Linklater’s magnum opus, but it is one of the greatest films of all time.

Honorable Mentions:

Bernie – Bernie is a strange movie. The mockumentary approach to it is pretty interesting and Jack Black’s titular character is quite memorable, but Linklater was not a good fit with this material, resulting in the comedic elements being a misfire.

A Scanner Darkly – Although this second animated effort from the director has once again terrific rotoscoping animation and some great themes well explored, others are glossed over and the characters left a lot to be desired.

Everybody Wants Some!! – As was the case with the original movie, this one also features a great attention to detail and it’s very fun and amusing, but it’s also just a film made for the purpose of nostalgia with not much substance to it unfortunately.