Few movies better capture what it's like to be a young teenager venturing into the adult world than Richard Linklater's cult classic Dazed and Confused. Featuring a talented ensemble cast - including Milla Jovovich and Matthew McConaughey in two of their earliest performances - it's about as free-wheeling and joyously spirited as you're likely to find on film. Beginning on the last day of school and concluding after a keg party which rounds off the day's celebrations as summer begins, Dazed and Confused shows the audience the full spectrum of student life, from enthusiastic young freshmen eager to grow up to beer-guzzling jocks and philosophising nerds. But unlike the stereotyping which characterised much of John Hughes's The Breakfast Club, here Linklater is clear to demonstrate from the beginning the ethos that unites them all - the desire to let their proverbial hair down and have fun. As an evocation of the hedonistic-minded spirit of youthfulness, few films are as endearing as Dazed and Confused - and the soundtrack is fantastic, too.
