With acclaimed hits like Boyhood, Dazed and Confused, and the Before trilogy under his belt, Richard Linklater has made a name for himself as one of the most revered and masterful filmmakers working today. From the kid who literally grows up on-screen in Boyhood to the role that originated Matthew McConaughey’s “All right, all right, all right” catchphrase, Linklater has given audiences some pretty memorable characters over the years.
Those characters aren’t always as likable as the lovebirds in the Before trilogy or Jack Black in School of Rock. The ensemble casts of movies like Dazed and Confused and Everybody Wants Some!! are a mixed bag of morals, and Linklater has made a couple of films based on the crimes of real-life criminals.
Bernie Tiede (Bernie)
Since the title character in Linklater’s dark comedy Bernie is a real-life murderer, it’s fair to say he’s not very likable. Jack Black played against type as Bernie Tiede.
Tiede was the long-time companion of a woman twice his age (played by the great Shirley MacLaine in the movie) before he decided to kill her.
Fred O’Bannion (Dazed And Confused)
Ben Affleck played a hysterical take on the worst kind of high school jock in Dazed and Confused. Fred O’Bannion is a shameless bully who hazes freshmen to inflate his own ego.
As he drives around town on the last day of school looking for victims to paddle, O’Bannion gets his comeuppance when the freshmen team up and pour white paint all over him.
Patty Di Marco (School Of Rock)
Ned’s overbearing girlfriend Patty Di Marco is specifically written as unlikable. Ned is caught between Dewey’s freeloading and Patty’s nagging, being exploited by both of them.
Unfortunately, Sarah Silverman played this part so well that it got her typecast as a nagging girlfriend, which seriously limited the number of roles she was offered for years. She managed to turn it around with a powerful dramatic turn in I Smile Back.
Willis Newton (The Newton Boys)
One of Linklater’s lesser-known works, The Newton Boys revolves around a real-life gang of bank robbers. Willis Newton initially suffers from a miscarriage of justice, but later becomes a career criminal as he galvanizes his brothers to rob banks.
By Willis Newton’s own estimate, the gang stole more money than the Dalton Gang, Butch Cassidy’s Wild Bunch, and the James-Younger Gang combined.
Morris Buttermaker (Bad News Bears)
Billy Bob Thornton played the lead role of Morris Buttermaker — first made iconic by Walter Matthau in the 1976 original — in Richard Linklater’s Bad News Bears remake.
He’s a loud, obnoxious, booze-swilling ex-pitcher for the Mariners who got kicked out of professional baseball for assaulting an umpire and now works as an exterminator.
Charlie Willoughby (Everybody Wants Some!!)
Richard Linklater conceived Everybody Wants Some!! as a kind of spiritual sequel to Dazed and Confused. After Dazed and Confused focused on high school kids in the ‘70s, Everybody Wants Some!! focused on college students in the ‘80s.
Wyatt Russell plays the laidback Charlie Willoughby, who’s cool enough to share weed, wisdom, and music with the latest freshmen to join the school.
Wooderson (Dazed And Confused)
On paper, Wooderson is kind of a creep, because he’s a grown man who hangs around with high schoolers. He even has the iconic line, “That’s what I love about these high school girls, man. I get older, they stay the same age.”
But as icky as that line is, he never does anything inappropriate with the kids – he's just the ultimate hangout dude. And Matthew McConaughey brings an undeniable charisma to the role.
Mason Evans Jr. (Boyhood)
Richard Linklater cast Ellar Coltrane in the lead role of Mason Evans Jr. in Boyhood when he was six years old. They spent 12 years making the movie and when it was finally complete, Coltrane was an adult.
The audience is naturally endeared to Mason Jr. throughout Boyhood, as they literally watch him grow up. Along the way, he has to contend with terrible stepdads and peer pressure.
Dewey Finn (School Of Rock)
Dewey Finn, the lead character in Linklater’s uncharacteristically family-friendly musical comedy School of Rock, is the role that Jack Black was born to play. He’s a well-meaning slacker whose desperation to make it as a rock star gives him a relatable motivation.
When a fancy private school calls to hire Dewey’s roommate Ned as a substitute teacher, Dewey steals his roommate’s identity to make some quick cash but ends up becoming the greatest, most inspiring teacher his class ever had.
TIE: Jesse & Céline (Before Trilogy)
The Before trilogy has been praised as one of the greatest love stories ever told, and like any great love story, its lead characters are lovable. From the moment they meet on a train in Vienna, the audience is rooting for these two. The nine-year gaps between the movies give the audience the sense that they’re watching these characters’ entire lives play out.
Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy both gave incredible performances as Jesse and Céline, making their romance feel real and therefore endearing.