‘Booksmart’ makes the grade
Heartwarming comedy at top of class. Review,
The worst thing you can say about the brilliantly zany teen comedy “Booksmart” is that you get only an hour and 45 minutes with its quirky student body.
In her directorial debut, Olivia Wilde delivers one of the best movies so far this year – and most definitely the funniest and rowdiest. “Booksmart” (★★★g; rated R; in theaters nationwide Friday) is coming-of-age excellence that’s sharp, raunchy and heartwarming at just the right times as it takes its brainy protagonists through four years of high school partying in one memorable night.
Amid the jocks, slackers and rich kids of Crockett High, Molly (Beanie Feldstein) and Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) are standouts as well as outsiders on the eve of their graduation. Molly is the Yale-bound class president and valedictorian with dreams of being the next RBG – “Take no prisoners” is written on her bedroom wall – and Amy is her socially conscious lesbian pal headed for Columbia. Neither quite has the respect of their classmates, though, because the girls chose to emphasize studying over socializing.
On their last day of high school, the loyal best friends start to wonder whether all the obsessing over their schoolwork was worth it. They decide to make up for what they’ve missed by hitting up the biggest bash of the year, though their wild night out features many completely wacky detours. Molly and Amy navigate hallucinogenic drug trips, depleted cellphone batteries and assorted other high jinks while attending the world’s saddest yacht party, dropping by an oddball murder-mystery shindig hosted by overly dramatic theater kids, and getting themselves into an absolutely hilarious situation involving their principal (Jason Sudeikis) and Internet porn.
“Booksmart” uses quite a few teen movie tropes, especially the “one crazy night” structure seen in everything from “Dazed and Confused” and “Superbad” to “American Graffiti” and “Can’t Hardly Wait.” But what Wilde has crafted here is effectively exploratory rather than overly derivative, delving into complicated emotions with a deft, respectful hand. The movie feels like an authentic depiction of that shared experience, whether you’re in high school now or were ages ago.
Also, Wilde wields a neat artistic touch: There’s a left-field, drug-fueled animated sequence that’s, well, pretty wild, and she makes hay out of most every scene, where even the background action enriches the importance of certain moments.
Seeing the fruits of her labor is Feldstein, who follows up her breakthrough in “Lady Bird” by showcasing more of her comedic chops here. Her chemistry with Dever is top-shelf stuff as lovably flawed young women who figure out they don’t know each other as well as they thought.
But what makes Molly and Amy’s excellent adventure special are the interesting supporting characters, a deep bench of youngsters who start as teenflick archetypes and become much more. (Also of refreshing note: a distinct lack of the rote high school antagonists. Instead, our heroines’ conflicts are mainly of their own doing.)
Skyler Gisondo is great as the goofy and entitled Jared, Molly Gordon lends depth to the promiscuous Triple A, yet Billie Lourd steals the entire movie as gonzo Gigi, a wealthy, vice-laden misfit who inexplicably shows up wherever the main duo go and acts as the movie’s low-key, one-woman Greek chorus.
Every so often, a teen movie comes along to redefine the genre (“Breakfast Club,” anyone?), and “Booksmart” pulls straight A’s in setting a new standard while announcing Wilde as Hollywood’s coolest new filmmaker.