Dazed and Confused, by writer-director Richard Linklater, follows a group of high-school students in a small Texas town on their quest for love, social standing, and Aerosmith tickets. Set in 1976, the film offers easy nostalgia only in its excellent soundtrack. "If you ever hear me say these were the best years of my life," says one partying teen, "remind me to shoot myself."

It's the last day of school, and the new seniors begin their celebration by hazing the incoming freshmen. The boys get paddled while the girls get humiliated, and the Darwinian social structure of high school gets a hard look. The film follows a large group of students through their day and the long night that follows with affection and lots of humor, but no sentimentality.

A Wonderful Young Cast

The characters in this film are excellent, well written and sensitively acted. Matthew McConaughey, Parker Posey, Adam Goldberg, Milla Jovovich, Joey Lauren Adams, and Ben Affleck are among the relative unknowns seen here. The characters they play are familiar types without becoming stereotypes.

The DVD offers nine scenes deleted from the final cut. In mock opposition to the movie's tag line--"See it with a bud!"--there are also several retro public service ads. The funniest of these is "The Blunt Truth," an institutional-style filmstrip which warns of the dangers of smoking too much killer weed.