AllMovie

One of the first of the prominent "Generation X" directors, Richard Linklater worked at a variety of odd jobs after leaving Sam Houston University. In the spirit of "film what you know," Linklater aimed his lenses at his home town of Austin, and the result was Slacker (1992), a stylized study of the modern "drop-out" society. The non-professional cast largely improvised its dialogue, which means that, depending upon your perspective, you'll either revel in the characters' insights or scream "Get a life!" Linklater's next film, Dazed and Confused (1993), takes place on the last day of high school in 1976; it has been described by some observers as the American Graffiti of the post-postwar generation. Linklater has not made any effort to aim his films at a mass audience; he's satisfied with screening his wares at international film festivals and at such organizations as his own Austin Film Society. Linklater also directed Before Sunrise (1995), a slick but still very personal film about a pair of disenfranchised young people (Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy) cast adrift in Paris; once more, the festival crowd raved, while "mainstream" critics carped about formlessness and excessive length.