Booksmart (2019) Review!!

Synopsis – On the eve of their high school graduation, two academic superstars and best friends realize they should have worked less and played more. Determined not to fall short of their peers, the girls try to cram four years of fun into one night.

My Take – After running itself into dormant territory due to excessive similarly themed releases, the high school coming-of-age comedy seems to be returning once again with a massive upswing. This year, the sub-genre, which has classics like The Breakfast Club, Clueless, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Superbad, Easy A and more recent films such as Lady Bird, The Edge of Seventeen, Eighth Grade and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, under its wing, saw an all-time great addition to the genre in the form of this whip-smart and immensely funny film from actress Olivia Wilde, who nails her directorial debut by putting a fun, fresh and female spin on the high school coming of age story with a hysterical yet intelligent script and fantastic performances from the leads.

While the short description of this film makes it sounds just like any average high school comedy, it is, however, far from basic, as it challenges the traditional sense of teen centered films by intricately weaving in humor and emotion into one cohesive unit and by balancing the comedic and dramatic tones, making this a true coming-of-age film.

Yes, like most reviews I too found the film to be giving off especially distinct Superbad vibes, both in story structure and its general theme of growing up, especially considering the fact that one of the film’s lead, Beanie Feldstein is actually Superbad star Jonah Hill’s younger sister.

While the films play off similar story beats with similar tropes and ideas, director Wilde‘s film differs when it places mostly everyone as an equal. In the sense, while the film’s leads are rejected as outcasts, they manage to get over the troupe that loser can be cool too. I have seriously no idea what took me so long to witness this excellent film.

The story follows Molly (Beanie Feldstein) and Amy (Kaitlyn Dever), a long-time pair of overachieving best friends, spent all of high school buckling down, skipping parties, studying in the library, and participating in extracurricular activities, determined to get into the colleges of their choice. However, when Molly confronts three fellow classmates, who are presumed burnouts, she learns two of them are attending top-tier colleges, like herself and Amy, while the other will be working for Google.

Rattled by the discovery that many of the students both partied throughout high school and excelled in their education, Molly and Amy set out to attend a party to make up for lost time. What follows is a series of mishaps, missed connections, triumphs, sexual discovery, and personal revelations.

It’s a film about friendship and being a good person, finally copping to what you want, revising your prejudices and assumptions about others, and being brave enough to own up to who you are. In director Wilde’s hands and with a screenplay penned by four women, the film feels like an evolution for the genre, as it shares with us a stunningly heartwarming story of friendship and self-discovery.

Despite the narrative being flipped, which puts two girls at the front of a high school comedy, it manages to be hilarious without being raunchy, touching without being cheesy, and beautiful without forcing feeling. Most importantly it refutes the myth that nerds are socially awkward and shy. Instead of the comedy relying on their inability to participate correctly, Amy and Molly are loud, fun and freaking hilarious in the same way I know so many of my friends to be. Girls can be nerdy, smart and sociable. You will experience a range of emotions within the duration of this film that will leave you elated and full of as much soul that was invested in this story.

The film works, and feels so fresh and revelatory, because of the way it understands the tropes and standard beats of the party films of previous years, and also updates and subverts them. Director Wilde clearly loves and respects today’s teens of this generation, as the film is filled with an understanding of what makes this generation who they are, and what it means and looks like to be young in 2019.

Too often teen films try too hard to seem relevant, filling their scripts with social media, characters talking in hashtags and overusing the word chatting texts, however, here the characters are socially aware and engaged, but also full of spirit, general teenage antics and anxieties. No one in here, as it turns out, is an archetype, they’re just people, doing their best.

A rich cast of teens proves that neither virtue nor vice exclusively belongs to one social group. There’s the most popular guy in school, who turns out to be really sweet, and the least popular guy, who turns out to be much more interesting than anyone expected. There’s the girl Amy is crushing on hard and the girl she hates, both of whom surprise her.

There is also surprising widespread representation of LGBTQ characters within the film, with one of the main characters, Amy, being a lesbian herself among other queer characters. Even the romance subplots are more energized, particularly through Amy, an awkward lesbian attempting to finally act on her attraction to another girl in the school.

This kind of casual LGBTQ representation is a real breath of fresh air in the film, with Amy’s sexuality only being one facet of her layered character. However, a plot line between teacher Ms. Fine (Jessica Williams) and a male student (Eduardo Franco) toward the end of the film raised an eyebrow.

The performances in the film are excellent across the board. In real life, actresses Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein lived together during the entire production process, resulting in a natural and effortless dynamic between the two of them. Their chemistry pops off the screen. It’s so genuine you really would think that these ladies have known each other for years. You can feel every emotion and all they go through in the film.

Billie Lourd once again puts up a scene-stealing show, as is ably supported by Skyler Gisondo, Diana Silvers, Victoria Ruesga, Molly Gordon, Noah Galvin, Austin Crute, Eduardo Franco, Nico Hiraga and Mason Gooding. Jason Sudeikis, Jessica Williams, Lisa Kudrow and Will Forte also show up in hilarious smaller roles. On the whole, ‘Booksmart’ is an effortlessly hilarious and charming directorial debut from Olivia Wilde.