Alright, Alright, Alright (The Oral History of Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused)

“Melissa Maerz’s brilliant oral history is the
definitive account of a cult-classic movie that took a slow ride into the
Seventies and defined the Nineties.” –Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone

The definitive oral history of the cult classic Dazed and
Confused, featuring behind-the-scenes stories from the cast, crew, and
Oscar-nominated director Richard Linklater.

Dazed and Confused not only heralded
the arrival of filmmaker Richard Linklater, it introduced a cast of unknowns
who would become the next generation of movie stars. Embraced as a cultural
touchstone, the 1993 film would also make Matthew McConaughey’s famous phrase—alright,
alright, alright—ubiquitous. But it started with a simple idea: Linklater thought people might like to watch a movie
about high school kids just hanging out and listening to music on the last day
of school in 1976.    

To some, that might not even sound like a
movie. But to a few studio executives, it sounded enough like the next American
Graffiti to justify the risk. Dazed and Confused underperformed at the box office and seemed destined to disappear. Then something weird
happened: Linklater turned out to be right. This wasn’t the kind of movie
everybody liked, but it was the kind of movie certain people loved, with
an intensity that felt personal. No matter what their high school experience
was like, they thought Dazed and Confused was about them.

Alright, Alright, Alright is the story of
how this iconic film came together and why it worked. Combining
behind-the-scenes photos and insights from nearly the entire cast, including
Matthew McConaughey, Parker Posey, Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams, and many
others, and with full
access to Linklater’s Dazed archives, it offers an inside look at how a
budding filmmaker and a cast of newcomers made a period piece that would feel
timeless for decades to come.