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.
I’ve waited a long time for the first Gen-Z relatable comedy. Something not forced with relatively relatable themes, just set in a younger generation. The “Jump Street” reboots felt VERY close, and yet, two men carried those movies on their backs. Nothing against Jonah Hill or Channing Tatum but Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein now rule the roost for stunning comic duo. I, for one, am glad to see this fearsome twosome bring new verve to this summer comedy/coming of age story. Couple that with Olivia Wilde’s impressively executed direction and you’ve got yourself a true gem. Booksmart rakes in laughter with Gen-Z comedy but keeps your heart by delving into the world of these two best friend nerds as they navigate one final night of partying, crushes, awkward parents, cool teachers, and a hard farewell.
Meet Molly (Beanie Feldstein), your pushy go-getting class president finishing out her school year patiently waiting for her comeuppance at Harvard. Her best friend, Amy (Kaitlyn Dever), lives meekly choosing to not to talk to the cute girl she crushes on. These two have to say farewell once summer starts as Amy plans to travel to Botswana to make tampons for women. They are the closest of friends and true products of their generation. When Molly finds out that her burnout classmates also got into Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, and (hilariously included) a job coding for Google, she realizes she traded away her fun for success. Molly convinces Amy to have one last night of fun before they say goodbye forever, leading to their great misadventures before graduation.
On the surface level, this story is simple and straightforward. It bears all the hallmarks of your classic teen coming of age movie. A cute crush the protagonist can’t talk to, cool teachers, droll principals, burgeoning sexuality, even down to the stereotypes: jocks, drama kids, ‘It’ girls, and the One Percent (rich kids.) What this movie does better than any teen movie (or tv show I would argue) before it reclassifies the whole “Teen Movie” subgenre firmly in the 21st century. Amy’s pixie girl crush bears tattoos, skateboards, but wears gold-wire-rimmed glasses. Molly’s onslaught of feminist icons never ceases (at one point she calls a “Malala” which apparently means a moment of complete and total support, no questions asked.) I didn’t see any vape pens but you know this movie is Gen-Z when the Popular Guy flirts with Molly by telling her what Hogwarts House she’s probably in. It never feels forced. This story feels written by someone who intimately knows the next generation and their joys and hates. If I were graduating high school this year I would claim this as my generation’s own and I kinda wish I was graduating high school now.
The thing this movie does best is humanize its characters. There’s no clear antagonist, just a whole lot of classic teen misrepresentations. In one incredibly poignant scene, the “It” Girl drives Molly home from a party and tells her she “didn’t think the girls would do it too.” It being called a horrible nickname given to her by her peers. Molly, who of course used the name gratuitously, realizes her own mistakes and understands: her peers aren’t the villains, they’re just miscast stereotypes in her head. Each character’s growth perfectly lines up with the setup and pay off done in both halves of the screenplay.
Acting wise they nailed the casting. Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein carry this movie on their backs with the perfect chemistry I want from a dynamic duo. At certain points, you can tell they just put Jason Sudeikis in a car with the two girls and let them run with it. As if that’s not enough every side character plays their part perfectly. Lisa Kudrow and Will Forte don’t exist for much of this movie, but they’re the perfect kind of parents for a budding Gen-Z’er. Billie Lourd and Skyler Gisondo frequent the screen with the most ridiculous set pieces and still nail their delivery. I’m not kidding when I say every character nails their part whether it’s two words, two minutes, or two hours.
From a production standpoint, I absolutely lost my mind. For an indie movie it’s well shot and well produced. In one incredible (and gut-busting hilarious scene for me) moment, Molly fantasizes a one-take-elaborate-dance-sequence with her crush except it’s the kind of dance routine you know took them days to master. The production set bounces around locations only each set piece remains distinctly unique.
The cinematography splashes in color tones suited to each location: blue for the pool, neon greens, reds, and purples for the Big Party, Golds and Satin Reds for the Drama Kids Party, Nightclub dark with bare oranges for the Yacht. The editing takes some liberties and sticks it’s comedic landing even if it’s doing the same thing several times. I could nitpick but honestly who cares?
Last but not least I have to talk about this soundtrack. I’m sure having the name Olivia Wilde and a movie about teenage girls coming-of-age lends you some street cred but holy crap is this soundtrack a banger. Lizzo, Run the Jewels, Salt-N-Pepa, Alanis Morissette, Death Grips, Discovery, JURASSIC 5!, ANDERSON FREAKIN’.PAAK!, LCD SOUNDSYSTEM!?!, EDWARD SHARPE AND THE MAGNETIC ZEROES!?! This soundtrack can score my entire summer right now and I’d be cool with that. Not a single song is wasted either. Each one shines in their own moment to where I was singing along in the theater. I’m gonna be bumping this soundtrack at parties from now on.
I suppose you can tell I really really liked “Booksmart.” So rare is it to see a movie that makes me die laughing, nails the ethos of a new generation, draws on the strengths of its genre, and still sticks the production landing. Top to bottom I enjoyed this movie. It’s peppered in aesthetic comedy (a shot for shot lambast of the classic indie sad movie farewell) meets laugh out loud dialogue and still manages to come out with everyone the winner. I’ll champion this film for a long time and recommend it to all my friends. Olivia Wilde nailed this one and this all-female writing team (Susanna Fogel, Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, and Katie Silberman) absolutely crushed it. I cannot wait to see what they have next!
Now available on Digital HD, Blu-ray™ and DVD
