Three things come to mind when watching a Richard Linklater film: characters, dialogue and experimentation. Linklater is known for crafting memorable characters, emphasizing character development over plot. It’s how you get David Wooderson in “Dazed and Confused” or Bernie Tiede in “Bernie.” In Linklater’s dialogue, every word makes sense for the characters. Nothing feels scripted. The best example is in the “Before” trilogy, which features Linklater’s most naturalistic and conversational scripts.
Then there’s Linklater’s experimentation. Linklater has never been one to shy away from taking risks or making films without a major studio behind him. “Boyhood” was filmed for over a decade with the same cast. “Waking Life” used a rotoscoping animation technique. And “Hit Man,” Linklater’s latest film starring Glen Powell, was written on spec with no distributor.
