Critics Scoreboard
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Average Critic Score:
78
(18 sources)
78
(18 sources)
-
100
Rolling Stone
Linklater is a sly and formidable talent, bringing an anthropologist's eye to this spectacularly funny celebration of the rites of stupidity. His shitfaced "American Graffiti" is the ultimate party movie -- loud, crude, socially irresponsible and totally irresistible. Read Full Review » -
100
Austin Chronicle
One of the most exciting movies of this, or any other, year. It's smart, funny, and wonderfully crafted and performed. Read Full Review » -
91
Entertainment Weekly
From the opening shot of a burnt-orange GTO cruising a high school parking lot to the strains of Aerosmith's ''Sweet Emotion,'' Richard Linklater's film nails mid-'70s adolescence so precisely that you'll need Clearasil by the end credits. Read Full Review » -
90
Washington Post
Richard Linklater's satirical take on high school life in the 1970s is not only funny and entertaining. It's practically a historic document of life during the smiley-face button era. Read Full Review » -
88
USA Today
The "Age of Innocence" oozes anthropological dazzle, but Dazed and Confused may some day rate its own Smithsonian showings for clinically re-creating the High School Experience 1976. [20 Sept 1993] Read Full Review » -
88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
The surprise lies in Linklater's ability to breathe so much fresh life into a tired formula...This is a picture that recollects not merely a period in time but a state of mind. Read Full Review » -
80
Los Angeles Times
It's a highly enjoyable spree that doesn't add up to a whole lot by the end. But you don't necessarily want it to add up to anything -- that's part of its charm. [24 Sept 1993] Read Full Review » -
80
Empire
Despite some gags which use the benefit of hindsight too much for their own good, this is a smart piece of filmmaking which suggests Linklater is already one of the more formidable talents of the 90s. Read Full Review » -
80
The New Yorker
What could have been a narrow, cultish little picture, a mere retro-trip, fans out into a broader study of longing and belonging. [4 Oct 1993, p.214] Read Full Review » -
75
Chicago Tribune
For a while, I resented the sexist, cruel behavior in the film, much of it revolving around the hazing of underclassmen. But gradually, I saw the movie turn into a brash expose of stupid adolescent traditions. [24 Sept 1993] Read Full Review » -
75
San Francisco Chronicle
The movie's episodic view of a collection of interesting friends, sweethearts, and cliques often rings so true that it might be a documentary...It's so right, you might think Linklater has mastered time travel. [24 Sept 1993] Read Full Review » -
75
Chicago Sun-Times
This is a good film, but it would not cheer people up much at a high school reunion. Read Full Review » -
70
Time
But it also has enough buoyant '70s music to shake anybody's tail feather, and a kind of easy jubilance of narrative and character. Bet it makes you wanna dance. [11 Oct 1993] Read Full Review » -
70
The New York Times
Dazed and Confused has an enjoyably playful spirit, one that amply compensates for its lack of structure. [24 Sept 1993, p.C12] Read Full Review » -
60
Variety
One-liners and dry sight gags still abound, but the ennui-sodden formlessness of "Slacker" doesn't fly as well in this $ 6 million, smoothly lensed package, which calls for shapelier narrative and resolution. Read Full Review » -
60
TV Guide
Expertly captures the details and textures of the time without condescending or lapsing into cheap-shot parody. Read Full Review » -
50
ReelViews
What Linklater does exceptionally well is open the door on an era seventeen years in the past. This is 1976, from the music and cars...to the people and their attitudes. You'd have to climb into a time machine to get a better view...However, this is light entertainment -- nothing groundbreaking or even especially noteworthy. Read Full Review » -
50
Chicago Reader
Disappointingly conventional though well-made...An OK teen movie, but not a whole lot more. Read Full Review »
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