82
Metascore
21 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter TraversLinklater 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.
- 100VarietyKen EisnerVarietyKen EisnerOne-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.
- 100Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenAustin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenOne of the most exciting movies of this, or any other, year. It's smart, funny, and wonderfully crafted and performed.
- 90Washington PostDesson ThomsonWashington PostDesson ThomsonRichard 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.
- 75Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertThis is a good film, but it would not cheer people up much at a high school reunion.
- 70The New York TimesJanet MaslinThe New York TimesJanet MaslinDazed and Confused has an enjoyably playful spirit, one that amply compensates for its lack of structure.
- 70TimeRichard CorlissTimeRichard CorlissBut 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]
- 60TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineExpertly captures the details and textures of the time without condescending or lapsing into cheap-shot parody.
- 50Chicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumChicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumDisappointingly conventional though well-made...An OK teen movie, but not a whole lot more.
- 50ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliWhat 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.