MRMOVIESETC
REVIEWS:
“Booksmart” (2019)
I’ve always found comedies to
be the most difficult films to review at length, unless they’re terrible,
because at least then I don’t need to feel too guilty about digging a bit
deeper into what failed and why. Good comedies, on the other hand, I almost
prefer to leave alone or keep vague at a maximum so as to not ruin the setups
of the best jokes. I’m not sure how this one is going to turn out since I am
obviously not there yet, but if it does end up being on the short side because
I felt it necessary, my apologies in advance.
***
It’s not really at all surprising
to me that Olivia Wilde would choose “Booksmart”, an R-rated teen comedy, as
the platform for her directing debut. To my knowledge, I don’t believe she’s
actually starred in many outright comedies in her still-growing career, but she’s
always had this dry wit to her that I’ve loved. Couple that with a team of
writers that have either directing experience of their own and/or are good at
writing from the female perspective accurately and humorously, I can see why a
film like this that has been done many times before with various levels of
success received buzz on the indie circuit.
The story for “Booksmart” is
about two best friends, Amy Antsler (Kaitlyn Dever) and Molly Davidson (Beanie
Feldstein), on the Eve of their high school graduation. As the title aptly
implies, both girls are extremely classroom intelligent with incredibly bright
college futures ahead of them. Naturally, this means they perfectly fill the “nerd”
stereotype: All work and no play outside of hanging out with each other. In the
beginning of the film, neither one is bothered by this as they believe, or at
least Molly believes, that they are step above the rest of their classmates
whom never outwardly cared about studying nearly as much as they cared about
partying and all other forms of socialization. The twist in the plot comes in
when the realization is made that – oops – many of said classmates excelled
equally as well despite having a work/play balance that both Amy and Molly
thought to be impossible. Now, they feel must immediately drop all previous
inhibitions and party the night away before the next chapter of their lives
begins the following day.
Of course, the full narrative
is significantly richer than that, especially with the character development. I
really loved how, instead of making it a full-blown event, Amy is a lesbian
that is already out of the closet, although she’s never had a romantic
relationship yet, so there’s awkwardness and shyness with both her own
insecurities and interactions with her parents that proves to be hilarious
material. All of that is also ushered along with Molly’s extroverted nature
that creates both intentional and unintentional embarrassment for Amy. It also
goes without saying that many plans for the night go awry and that’s where the
bulk of the funny comes in. The film isn’t wholly original in that regard,
though execution has always been more critical than anything else with these kinds
of movies.
I cannot say for sure if it
was by design or the production simply lacked the funds, but assuming it was
the former, I got a lot of appreciation out of how there wasn’t an A-List name
on the marquee for “Booksmart” to act as a lure for audiences as opposed to
letting the two main leads shine on their own terms. Jason Sudeikis does a make
a few brief appearances, and that shouldn’t be shocking given that he’s the significant
other of the director and all. Outside of him, Devers and Feldstein run the
show, and they are spot-on perfect for this film. I’ve been watching Devers act
for a handful of years when she was a regular on the initial run of the “Last
Man Standing” TV show, and to me, she was always the standout with her dry
humor delivery; a bulk of which translates over “Booksmart”. I’m not able to
say the same about Feldstein, but that shouldn’t diminish anything about her
ability because she shows exactly why she deserved her role.
Low and behold, “Booksmart”
manages to miraculously be another comedy from 2019 to make the token vulgarity
trope work to its benefit rather than against it, and no, not just because
girls are doing it this time, therefore, funny. It’s amazing how much better
humor like that performs when its situational and took its time in the build-up
instead of randomly seeing how loud genital terms can be shouted in a typically
derogatory fashion. That’s not to say that kind of shtick is without a home,
but it’s become a staple that has been beaten into the grave thrice over.
If I have any complaints, and
they are few, they would mainly be regarding the transitions from comedy to
drama. Said transitions are entirely warranted as the narrative does go into
the heavy, mostly with Amy, but when they do come along, I feel they could have
used fleshing out and less easy resolutions. There is also one giant plot
convenience that instantly makes no sense if allowed to be reflected upon for
more than a few seconds. Fortunately the film does move at an expert pace that
it truly is easily forgotten once a few minutes go by. None of these things are
nearly as jarring as those descriptions make them sound; I just can’t think of
a better way to put it out there.
I think I will leave it at
that for “Booksmart”. While I didn’t find the more heartfelt moments to be as
effective as they should have been, this is still one excellent debut for the
two leads and Wilde as a director. It is refreshingly funny all the way through
with a mix of silly and clever, and none of the antics feel forced or out of
place. I recall feeling slightly astonished at how long it’s been since I have
seen a new comedy flow as well as this one does. Don’t be at all surprised if
this one turns up on a lot of Top Ten lists come December.
Absolutely recommended.
“Booksmart”: 8.5/10
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