Booksmart – Review

Booksmart

Directed by: Olivia Wilde

Runtime: 105 minutes

Like many normal well-adjusted adults, I hated high school. One of my recurring nightmares involves me now, in my twenties, back in high school, forced to relive every day of skull-crushing boredom again and again and again. However, I’d like to think that if I’d seen Booksmart back at fifteen and not now, I’d perhaps have felt a little less alone and maybe had a bit more fun at the time. Regardless, I’m incredibly happy that I’ve seen it now because, even now, I’m having a chuckle thinking back to how hilarious I found this film.

Booksmart begins with two super academic high school seniors, Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) and Molly (Beanie Feldstein) just about to graduate. When Molly overhears a group of classmates talking about her, she realises that she and Amy have missed out of several milestones in their quest of academic dominance and vow to make up for it attending a giant end of year party and proving that they too are fun. However, realising that neither of them knows where the party actually is, starting on a journey that sees them tripping balls on a yacht, trying to hijack a car and ending up in jail.

The humour of Booksmart doesn’t necessarily stem from particular gags but rather how we relate to its characters and their lives. Who hasn’t had an awkward ride share conversations, or curiously broached the topic of masturbation with a friend? Watching Booksmart, it is clear that its writers (Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, Susanna Fogel and Katie Silberman) were sick of the typical stereotypes teenage girls have been subjected to in comedy and created something refreshingly honest. I felt like I knew Amy and Molly. Fieldstein and Dever, aside from a few misses, did a great job in bringing them to life.

In her debut role as director, Olivia Wilde, took some excellent risks playing around with genre, camera, and blocking in a way that felt refreshing and new while also recalling other comedic directors, like Edgar Wright. It didn’t always work but it definitely felt like an improvement on the lacklustre directing that American comedy films have succumbed to.

My only real gripe about the film is the slow first act. Before we really get to know the characters, the joke has little to no payoff and there is little laughter. In all honesty, it is to be expected for a film that chooses to respect its audience rather than bombard them with a litany of boring jokes.

Booksmart is an easy rewatch and shows what happens when people who were actually once teenage girls write about teenage girls. I cannot overstate just how funny it was and how much I enjoyed it. I haven’t stopped talking about it since and I’d say anyone should give this a watch.