Booksmart
/“Getting Straight A's. Giving Zero F's.”
Filmology Rating: 3 out of 4
Booksmart is actor turned director, Olivia Wilde's, directorial debut. It stars Kaitlyn Dever as Amy and Beanie Feldstein as Molly. Amy and Molly are the academically focused students who have avoided fun throughout High School to ensure they get into good colleges, such as Yale. However, they discover that other students in their grade are going to the prestigious colleges as well, while also doing the partying and drinking in their free time. Molly and Amy realize that they were so focused on academics that they forgot to have fun in High School. So they plan one last crazy night to experience four years worth of partying.
Also, what a perfect time to release this film. This was an absolutely delightful film. A while back, I said that the "drunk night out" comedy was pretty much dead. However, this film has elements of those cliches, but takes a more character driven angle to the film.
If you have ever seen George Lucas's 'American Graffiti', you can easily relate this film to 'Booksmart.' They are very similar. What makes this film different from other comedies, similar to this one, is a good screenplay.
The script is very tight. If you are interested in low-budget filmmaking, this a great example of telling a good story with very little. The script sets up several things that all eventually pay off. There are twists and turns and what this film comes down to is friendship. It is that awkward period of post-high school where you begin to cut communication with certain people and the film highlights the importance of having a friendship grow past High School.
This is a very funny film, thanks to the script. There is lots of raw and crude humor that may not appeal to some. An elderly couple got up and left after they realized what they had walked into. But, it is a funny film where the majority of jokes land.
When comedies are usually discussed, the technical side of filmmaking is often excluded. However, this film offers many wonderful visuals from cinematographer, Jason McCormick. There is even a fun scene of stop motion.
What was also greatly appreciated is that Amy is a gay character. However, the movie is not centered on that aspect like 'Love Simon.' She is just gay. There isn't "that scene" where the kid comes out to the parents. It feels natural and I'm glad that films are at that point now.
The performances from Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein should be noted. They have terrific chemistry and it does not feel like they're delivering "movie dialogue." Everything felt realistic and I bought into these two being best friends.
The one aspect that did irritate me that most indie films do is making side characters unrealistically charismatic, wacky, or stereotyping to the greatest extreme. For example, the drama group has many over-the-top girly men, or the "popular girl" dresses inappropriately. But, near the end, the film does resolve its stereotyping and makes point of it, thematically.
This is a refreshingly original film that steers very far from typical cliches in this type of genre. This film has a heart that speaks to any age, but especially younger people. It was terrific, engaging, sad, and, most importantly, hilarious.
Rating: See It
-Nolan
I’m writing this review after Booksmart premiered at SXSW and received unanimous praise. The only reason that I feel I need to bring this up is because I feel like I’m struggling through the marsh waiting to find solid ground. I thought that Booksmart was an adequate film but not one that deserves to be praised from the rooftops as a second coming of age films. Critics who are claiming this have clearly forgotten about films like The Edge of Seventeen, Lady Bird, and Moonlight. The problem with this genre is that it has hundreds of films to reference and if you aren’t adding anything new to the conversation at this point I would argue that the creative team should have spent their time and money on something new, or at least more thought provoking. I don’t judge anyone for having this film work for them, the film features some phenomenal actors and some slight moments of humanity but the over the top characters always hold the film at an arm's length.
Coming of age films are usually my bread and butter, the nostalgic comfort food where I go to realise that life can and will get better. I try not to be sentimental with things like high school and college, they were simply events in my life that lead me to the place where I am now but that doesn’t mean that I need to dwell on them. At times I simply crave reinsurance from the silver screen that no matter how difficult life will be there is always a light at the end of the tunnel, even if it might not be for me.
Amy, played by Kaitlyn Dever, and Molly, played by Beanie Feldstein, are characters about to graduate high school and go on to their dream schools. The duo always had their heads in their books hoping to get into the best schools they could, but the problem is that everyone else in their class is also going to their dream schools. All of the people who partied and could balance a life outside of school will be following Amy and Molly like a bad nightmare, so the duo decide to make their last night of high school a night they will never forget.
The best films have the greatest stakes. This doesn’t mean that every film needs to be Avengers: Infinity War where the fate of the entire cosmos are on the line but the stakes of the film should still be high and important for the characters involved. Since the majority of people only think of the worst possible scenario when stakes are involved, I would recommend looking at films like Whiplash and La La Land to see films that feature incredibly small stakes when looking at them from the global perspective but to those characters they mean the world. I was never able to firmly grasp the stakes in this film. Was it to go to a party? They clearly do that numerous times yet never seem satisfied. Was it to have that first kiss? Perhaps even though you quickly realize it wasn’t as good as you built it up to be in your head. While the film lacks the stakes that I thrive for in films, the message of the film is clear: just because you are booksmart that doesn’t make you streetsmart. Time to beat that message into everyone's head yet again.
The script was written by Susanna Fogel, Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, and Katie Silberman. Just looking at all of those names you know this film was written by committee and each person was given a scene with a comedic goal in mind that later had to be forced into a larger story. Did I mention Booksmart was a comedy? That must have been a slip of the tongue or the marketing has beaten me to a pulp with trying to convince me this is a comedy. In order for a film to be considered a comedy one would have to laugh not just sit in the theater with nothing but silence around them. Yes, comedy is subjective but I would at least hope that the film could bring a slight smile to my face rather than the scowl that I’m sure I had while watching the film.
The phenomenal acting is the saving grace of the film. This film would have completely failed without Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein. Dever is best known for her work in Short Term 12 and the sitcom Last Man Standing. while Feldstein is best known for her work in the other coming of age film Lady Bird. It’s the humanity that the actresses bring to the roles that make this film tolerable. While their characters are rather bombastic and over the top, you never lose sight of the humanity that kept them level and relatable. Lesser actors would lean more into the quirks of the characters which would cause most audience members to be either annoyed with them or to feel that they are too unrealistic to relate with them. It’s a tricky balance to pull off but the duo are able to pull it off with flying colors.
Since this is Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut, I would like to commend her on her excellent use of the camera. Wilde knows how to command the screen and I hope that she can be given a better script with her next film. The biggest compliment that I can give to Wilde is that she is never too showy, she knows that the actors can deliver so she doesn’t need to show off with any over the top cinematography or editing gimmicks to show that she is a director to be reckoned with, I look forward to seeing hopefully better films from Olivia Wilde in the future.
Now down to business about one of the biggest reasons that I don’t like Booksmart. This film is a glorification of party culture which I would also classify as Instagram culture. The mindset of you can do anything, and get away with anything, all for the sake of a fun time and a great picture is one of the biggest idiocracies that I can think of. Just because we live in a world that likes to celebrate that now doesn’t mean that we need a film that will be seen by millions to glorify it. While the film tries to setup consequences for the actions that take place they are quickly brushed away with some of the most reckless driving that I have ever seen in a young adult picture. Films like this, that are meant to speak to that younger demographic are the reasons why we will never be able to leave this horrid cultural mindset. Keep in mind this is the same mindset that got us to our current political status, where we have a President who will do anything to get the photo and headline. With all the humanity that everyone claims to be in this film, I would have preferred it to challenge that notion to move us in a more forward thinking mindset, rather than keep us in the cyber caves that we have created.
Rating: Rent It
-Jonny G