In our first installment of our Beer in Film series on Dazed and Confused, we just got into setting the stage for the night of beer drinking to come, looking at the the trunk of O’Bannon’s Plymouth Duster, filled with beer. Today, we are going to look at a few more beer scenes from the movie.
First up, we have one of my favorite moments of the movie. With his parents heading out of town, Pickford planned on having an epic bash at his house. However, his parents catch wind of the party when the keg delivery comes just as they were loading up to leave.
It is certainly a downer moment for those assembled at Pickford’s house completing a drug deal: Pickford, Michelle, Slater, and Pink. And it throws a real wrench in the evening’s plans for everyone else. As Wooderson says later, “It’s a bummer about your party, man.” To which Pickford, in his laid back way, responds simply, “It’s beyond me. The delivery guy bricked.”
But the scene is anything but a disappointment in Dazed and Confused. It includes some hysterical antics by Slater and the classic back and forth between Pickford and the delivery man, who just wanted get off his shift a little early because “I got this little action happening tonight man if you know what I mean?”
And the scene sets up the rest of the movie. Instead of a party at Pickford’s house, the high schoolers all cruise around town and hang out at the Emporium. And that cruising brings us some great moments, including the bowling ball scene, which sets up the events at the Quickie Mart. There, Don, with the freshman’s – Mitch’s – assistance, pretends to steal a sixer, Zig Zags, and various other accoutrements from the place.
Coming out of the Quickie Mart and getting in the car, a half-drunk dude with a gun, who Pickford and Pink think must be from the store, accosts the group. It turns out he is pissed about the “tampering with mailboxes [which] is a felony offense.”
The whining, laughing, “He’s shooting at us!” from Pickford as the guys tear away and make their escape always has me in stitches.
Stay tuned for tomorrow, when we highlight some other classic beer in film moments from Dazed and Confused. And, if you are just jonesing for more in the meantime, flip on the movie, grab a case of beer, and take a hearty gulp every time you see someone take a drink!
