With countless films over the past 3 decades depicting teenage boys running wild through high school, partying and trying to find young romance, we're definitely way overdue for the female-lead equivalent. And while Booksmart is successful at bringing a new perspective to a tried and true formula, it also struggles to escape the shadow of those that came before it. The film never really breaks free of the feeling that you're just watching Superbad's little sister. Which is incredibly ironic when you realize that Beanie Feldstein (who basically plays the female counterpart to Jonah Hill's Seth character from Superbad) is in fact Jonah Hill's real life little sister. But I suppose every generation has their own coming of age story. It's just a little shocking when you realize that it's been 11 years since Superbad was in theaters and no one has really dared to tackle the high school teen comedy since. And Booksmart is definitely a worthy addition to the sub-genre, but not quite as transcendent as some of its peers.
Mostly that's due to the script. There are plenty of laughs to be had, no question, but the characters just never really feel genuine. None of their motives seem to make sense, which is especially frustrating concerning our lead characters, Amy and Molly. They're incredibly one dimensional and make a lot of questionable decisions that serve only to move the story forward. Like Molly deciding that she'll pursue a meathead jock she's ranted about for the entire school year, just so we can get the payoff when both Amy and Molly's crushes hook up with each other. Or the fact that Amy and Molly go completely ignored at school (even occasionally get tormented or bullied) and yet somehow not only get invited to the biggest end of the year party but also greeted with such enthusiasm upon arrival. But most of all, why do Amy and Molly decide on the last day of school that they suddenly need to prove to their classmates how cool they are when they'll likely never see most of them again?
And then there's the obnoxiously over the top ancillary characters like Gigi the drugged out debutante, Jared the hipster wannabee, Nick the aforementioned meathead jock, George the flamboyant theater geek, Theo the burnout - it's just all so predictable at this point. It feels like the underlying message of the equal representation movement in Hollywood is being a bit undermined when you still stereotype the rest of your cast into cardboard cutouts we've been seeing in these movies since the 90's. They've just decided to change the gender of who receives top billing and the majority of the screen time.
The cast is mostly hilarious despite this, elevating the story past its obvious story line. But I say mostly because of how out of place Kaitlyn Dever feels - which is an unfortunate thing for your lead. She's so reserved and passive throughout the movie that it's hard to really see her taking some of the chances she does later in the film or even putting up with someone like Molly in the first place. She definitely shines in the more dramatic moments of the film but feels left behind in keeping up with the rest of the cast's comedic timing. And while Beanie has her moments, she's no Jonah Hill either. Which may seem unfair but when you're aligning yourself in such a similar role, with a sub-par story - it's hard to avoid the comparison. All these characters just needed more depth.
Olivia Wilde definitely shows promise as a new director, giving life to a fairly predictable script and infusing plenty of visual nuance to a story that could have easily been just another teen movie. There are a couple of sequences that run a little past their welcome but all in all, the film moves at a a fun and easy pace with some genuine laugh out loud moments. And the soundtrack is absolutely blazing from start to finish, probably the biggest highlight for me. The film definitely has plenty of style and charm and with less emotional baggage than Edge of Seventeen or The Perks of Being a Wallflower - it's easy to see this becoming the American Pie of its generation.
I suppose you can summarize to say that the film is about chasing reckless impulses while you're young enough to get away with it. Which definitely makes for a fun trip but not necessarily one that stays with you after the credits start to roll. It's a big dumb, fun comedy with a touch of sentiment - just not the cultural revelation it makes itself out to be. There are plenty of rah rah girl power quips sprinkled throughout but this is still just a lesser Superbad knock off. But that's not to say that the film is bad. It's definitely funny, I just expected a film called Booksmart to be - you know, smarter.
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