On May 28th, 1976, a large group of students is getting ready for summer vacation from Lee High School in Texas. This group of students is many and varied, and they are all a bunch of crazy kids. There is Randall 'Pink' Floyd (Jason London), who is the starting quarterback for the school football team, and just trying to have a good time though he has signed a pledge not to take drugs. The rest of the seniors like Fred O'Bannion (Ben Affleck), who purposely flunked out so he could be a senior again, prepare to haze the incoming freshmen. Then you have the loners group Tony, Cynthia and Mike (Adam Goldberg), who just drive around freaking out about what to do with life after high school. And of course the long graduated loser/stoner David Wooderson (Matthew McConaughey), who just likes to hang out with high schoolers. The story is all about surviving high school life in the 70s with its atmosphere of sex, drugs, and rock and roll.