Bookworms and Smarty Pants

As a child of the 1980s, John Hughes was a staple of my early years of movie watching. He was the writer and director of some of the best comedies that the decade produced. To me, however, his legacy will always be two of the greatest teenager centric movies ever made, “The Breakfast Club” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”. Unfortunately, Hughes died a decade ago, and the high quality of his teenager centric movies hasn’t been produced or matched since. Sure, we had “Superbad”, but that was all the way back in 2007. And there have been critical darlings like “Eighth Grade” and “Lady Bird”, but I didn’t find anything special about either movie. So I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered “Booksmart”, which is pretty much the female version of “Superbad”. Sure, it’s not on par with “Breakfast Club” or “Ferris Bueller”, but it does capture the tone of Hughes’ work.

The directorial debut of actress Olivia Wilde, “Booksmart” follows best friends Molly Davidson and Amy Antsler, a pair of nerdy high school seniors. Hours before graduation day, they come to the realization that they haven’t had much fun in their school years, and while they are going to great colleges, other, less devoted students managed to get into great colleges as well. So Molly and Amy set out to go to a party, and in typical coming of age movie fashion, much hijinks ensue while they are on the way to the party and then when they finally do arrive at the party.

The film is headlined by newcomer actresses, Beanie Feldstein (Molly) and Kaitlyn Dever (Amy). Ironically enough, Feldstein was also in “Lady Bird”, which I mentioned before, but even more ironically, she is the real life sister of Jonah Hill, who was in “Superbad”. I must say, this is some of the best casting and on screen chemistry between two actresses that I have seen in a long time. Apparently, Feldstein and Dever lived together for ten weeks in preparation for their roles. It paid off, because you do get the sense these two have been the best of friends for half of their lives. They effortlessly bounce their lines off of one another, and the energy that have together is infectious. Granted, their chemistry isn’t on par with the likes of Paul Newman and Robert Redford, but let’s be honest, we’re never going to get on screen chemistry that good ever again in the history of cinema.

Among the rest of the cast are Jason Sudeikis (Wilde’s real life husband, the lucky S.O.B.) as the school’s principal, Lisa Kudrow and Will Forte as Amy’s parents, and Jessica Williams as the young and cool teacher that all of her students love and adore. The rest of the students are played by unknown actors and actresses, with the exception of Billie Lourd (the daughter of the late, great Carrie Fisher), but we’ll get back to her later. In terms of the movie’s comedy, it mostly lands. The jokes range from one-liners and sight gags to this one truly outrageous sequence which will have you laughing out loud at the sheer “what in the hell am I seeing right now” aspect of it. The movie was co-produced by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, so if you enjoy their style of humor, you’re going to enjoy the humor here.

Much like John Hughes’ movies, the portrayal of teenagers is mostly accurate and truthful. Of course, as it always will be with movies, there are some stereotypes here and there, such as token gay students, the token stoner/slacker students, the token jock students, and the token rich kid students, etc. But hey, much like how there are no new stories, just new ways to tell them, there aren’t new kinds of high school movie characters, just new ways to portray them. And like with most of Hughes’ movies, this one is surprisingly heartfelt when you least expect it, especially during the more romantic scenes. There’s a twist when it comes to who Molly and Amy have schoolgirl crushes on (no, it’s not each other), but when they do have moments to be with the ones they want, it’s cute in a naive and innocent way, until it all goes horribly wrong, because coming of age story, of course.

I didn’t find many flaws within the movie, with the exception of Billie Lourd’s character, Gigi. It’s not that Billie gives a bad performance, it’s that her character really does fit in. It’s like she came from another, more zany movie, and she somehow ended up here. While the other students come across as more natural, even if they are stereotypical, Gigi comes across as artificial. She’s a weird combination of rich, privileged girl and a flower child, but it doesn’t mush together. Also, there’s a running joke that she always ends up wherever Molly and Amy go on their misadventures, and it always ends with you thinking “oh, it’s you again” whenever she’s on screen. Again, it’s not Lourd’s fault, it’s more of how the character is written.

Overall, I give “Booksmart” a well deserved four out of five stars. This was an entertaining, star making vehicle for Feldstein and Dever, and a worthy spiritual successor to “Superbad”. The movie is available on physical disk rental and On Demand, although I saw it on Hulu, which was on sale for $1.99 a month (it’s usually $5.99 for its lowest tier). So if you’re looking for a funny and lighthearted teen movie, this is a perfect choice. That concludes this fanpicked review. And remember, when it comes to the media that you consume, be like Indiana Jones, and choose wisely.

Short Version

Pros:

Great performances and on screen chemistry from Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever.

Genuinely funny comedy.

Cons:

Billie Lourd’s character feels wildly out of place and unnatural.

Usual high school character stereotypes.

Verdict: **** (four out of five stars).