Booksmart Review
R: Strong sexual content and language throughout, drug use and drinking - all involving teens
Annapurna Pictures, Gloria Sanchez Productions, United Artists Releasing
1 Hr and 45 Minutes
Dir: Olivia Wilde | Writers: Katie Silberman, Susanna Fogel, Sarah Haskins, Emily Halpern
Cast: Kaitlyn Dever, Beanie Feldstein, Jessica Williams, Billie Lourd, Lisa Kudrow, Will Forte, Jason Sudeikis, Noah Galvin, Mike O’Brien, Molly Gordon, Victoria Ruesga
Told from a wildly original, fresh and modern perspective, Booksmart is an unfiltered comedy about high school best friends and the bonds we create that last a lifetime. Capturing the spirit of our times, the film is a coming of age story for a new generation.
For many years, Beanie Feldstein has proven to be talented and funny and for this being her first central role, she exhibits a variety of talent within her performance. Finally, Beanie Feld is in the TITULAR ROLE!
With Booksmart being her first time in the leading spotlight, Feldstein shines so bright like a diamond in her performance. Several may compare her abilities to her brother Jonah Hill, but Feldstein has showcased that she has her own comedic chops that help her stand out on her own and this film solidifies that. This is her and Kaitlyn Dever’s show and their abilities together on camera is one of the many driving forces that makes this comedy special.
The story follows Molly and Amy trying to go to the biggest high school party the night before graduation, and the series of unfortunate events that occur along the way. The chemistry that Feldstein and Dever share is as powerful as Abbi and Ilana of Broad City that they even nail down some of their physical cadence. There is a running joke that whenever Molly and Amy wore similar clothing they would compliment each other and use passionate hand movements. That is a major charming aspect that the Broad City ladies use in their friendship, and these two work it just as well. Their friendship is the emotional core of the film and their dynamic is something that is so relatable that everyone is able to see a piece of themselves through Molly and Amy. The way they would banter, greet each other, speak in their own distinctive code that references powerful women in history, and explicitly joke about things relating to masturbation is so passionate and relative that you can’t help but love them. The fact that all the screenwriters are women elevates the dynamics between the leads and how they interact in their dialogue.
For Booksmart being Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut, she expresses the WILD through her style. Behind the camera, Wilde experiments with different filmmaking techniques as chaos occurs on screen, but she never goes for one definite look which works to the movie’s benefit. It may have the framework of a standard studio comedy, but she adds a level of nuance to certain scenes or sequences that are meaningful. It’s funny that this is distributed by Annapurna, the same studio that released Sorry to Bother You. And like Sorry to Bother You, the film oozes style. Like Boots Riley, you want to see more from Wilde behind the camera for this debut is impressive as hell and I can’t wait to see where her filmmaking career goes from here.
While I usually generally fear when more than three names are attached to a script, the all-female team of screenwriters (one being Katie Silberman who not only did the punch up on the final draft but is also on a roll with Isn’t it Romantic and now this) managed to pen a powerful script that is so damn electrifying. Not only does the film have enough humor and incredibly refreshing jokes that keep it at a fast pace, but it also delivers a charmingly heartwarming tale of these two best friends overcoming their fears and becoming stronger people.
In regards to its humor, Booksmart has to be the first raunchy comedy in a long time to never degrade its sense of humor by attempting to be offensive or shocking in order to be funny. Instead, it makes jokes that are fresh, clever, and progressive. The screenwriters nail down how these high school kids interact so well, giving the setting a grounded atmosphere. The ensemble is great and how they’re written compliments their performances. It’s raunchy and adult, never aims for shock value, but manages to be mature and smart all the way through.
A major aspect about the film that I love is how it takes archetypes, such as the overachiever and the safe person, deconstructs them, adds a modern twist, and rework them to form their own heroes. I’ll use Kaitlyn Dever’s character Amy as an example. In comedies of this nature, you’ll have the nerdy guy who’s awkward, unsure of himself, and tends to be the straight man to the best friend’s wacky antics while crushing on the hot girl. Amy has all of those qualities but is openly gay and spends the movie trying to project her sexuality. The film delivers humor based on her homosexuality, but never really walks the line of being offensive or derivative. The film even features a homosexual sex scene but doesn’t romanticize it, for delivers a realistic authenticity while hitting said beats present in those comedies.
Aside from the central actresses, the entire ensemble is amazing for you have these actors who appeared in several comedies prior to this and their talents are used to their full advantage while showcasing a different side to them. You have Skyler Gisondo from 2015’s Vacation as this sort of spoiled kid who dresses like a mini Macklemore and tries way too hard to be cool. You have Noah Galvin from the short-lived ABC sitcom The Real O’Neals as the mean drama kid. The entire supporting cast is hilarious as hell, but the one who steals the show whenever she’s on screen is Billie Lourd. Billie Lourd is the major MVP scene stealer for she’s this crazy yet wise, hyped up, wild card with the best energetic charisma that always cracks you up hard when she's on screen. She just does random things throughout that are so over-the-top and unpredictable that I blew out a chord during one of her moments. Literally everyone has their own quirky personality and runs with it perfectly, which is all credit to Wilde’s direction.
During the film’s third act when the girls do reach the party, the pace slows down a bit and you start to feel the film’s length. I think that’s my only criticism. I got nothing else. Not even with the jokes. Most of the jokes never fall flat and no running gag overstays its welcome.
Along with Kay Cameron’s 2018 comedy Blockers, Booksmart is further evidence of a progressively reformed format that teen movies are going through and are expressions of a new age of comedy. Similar to Blockers, this cleverly makes use of our modern time for humor, but comes across as old school because of how well the jokes are written and executed. Double-feature this and Blockers and you will be able to see the new era of comedy and how much progress has been made where more groups of people are being represented. Both films are a pinnacle of comedy if timelined with features such as Fast Times At Ridgemont High, American Pie, and Superbad. Each film boldly represents the place and time of comedy and Booksmart truly sits at the top. As far as female-centric comedies go, Booksmart is as empowering as the underrated Never Goin’ Back and Blockers where these teenage girls are unapologetically nasty, fun, and driven to get what they want. Those are the types of comedies that we need to see now more than ever from Hollywood. A friend of mine, Brianna Zigler wrote this piece called “Diners, Drugs, and Dick Jokes: The Glory of Grimy Girls and Never Goin’ Back” where she passionately expresses the new era of coming of age stories and how women should be championed for being themselves and while watching this film, is another cinematic evident to her argument.
Many may compare this to a gender-swapped Superbad because of the similar narrative beats in terms of story, but because of Wilde’s variation of style, its story, and most especially Molly and Amy’s dynamic, the film creates an identity of its own. Also, call me that cynical asshole but I’m tired of every high school comedy that’s rated R being compared to Superbad. Like, there are other movies that exist besides Superbad. Both films walk similar narrative beats present in all teen comedies, but they have their own identity. I guess the only thing I can compare these two films with is the love the central characters share with each other and that’s it. You’ll get the general stuff present in R-rated comedies like characters tripping out on drugs and having a crazy sequence, a student trying to get with the teacher, vomit during an intimate moment, etc. Stop using gender as a means to compare films to each other! Let these R-rated teen comedies be their own movies.
I’m gonna be honest, I didn’t get enough sleep on my flight before catching this film. I didn’t even get an energy boost while waiting on line, but this movie threw a water balloon at my face and woke me the fuck up. There was a period where I stopped laughing because I was all laughed out. A comedy hasn’t done that to me in a very loooong time so once again credit to Olivia Wilde who proves she that not only is she a talented actress but also a powerful director as well and hope many female filmmakers become inspired by her film.
The level of the innovation in Wilde’s direction mixed with the originality of the screenplay and the powerful performances by Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever makes Booksmart a stylish, hysterical, and heartwarming comedy. It’s not only one of the best films of the year, but one of the best comedies of the 21st Century.
Rating: 4.5/5 | 91%
Super Scene: Amy swims and soars
