Do you remember High School? What was your experience like? Do you have fond memories? Do you have painful memories? Did you spend most of your time studying or partying? Or did you do both? If you could do it all over again, what would you do differently?
We all have our own regrets when it comes to High School. Some of us wish we spent more time studying. And some of us wish we spent more time partying. The latter is how Molly (Beanie Feldstein) feels in “Booksmart”, the directorial debut of Olivia Wilde that just came out in theaters over the weekend.
Molly and her best friend since childhood Amy (Kaitlyn Denver) were both over-achievers in High School. They spent their free time in the library as opposed to parties. For years, they both believed that spending 100% of their free time studying would put them ahead of the rest of their fellow students, and into prestigious universities like Yale. That is, until the last day of High School when Molly finds out that even though she is going to a prestigious university, so is everyone else in High School apparently! Including the ones who partied! Molly realizes she and Amy could have been one of the “cool” kids and still been able to succeed in academia. They could have had their cake and eaten it too. But instead, they only had the cake and let it sit there for all the other high schoolers to eat.
Molly decides that she and Amy should spend their last night before Graduation going to the end-of-School-year party held by Nick (Mason Gooding), a boy she has a crush on.
I won’t tell you what happens next. Even though you may be thinking “it’s a teen comedy! Most of them are pretty formulaic and generally have the same ending!” And you’re not entirely wrong. But in the case of “Booksmart”, it’s not about the destination, it’s the journey. A wacky, crazy, insane, hilarious, and heartwarming journey.
“Booksmart” is the funniest movie I’ve seen all year so far. And possibly the funniest movie I’ve seen all decade next to “Bridesmaids”. The characters were all memorable, layered, and believable. The script by Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, Susanna Fogel, and Katie Silberman was sharp, witty, and authentic. That last word, “authentic”, is what I would use to describe this movie. “Authentic”. This is one off the most “authentic” movies about High School. Anyone who has gone to High School can relate to this movie. And if you spent time in High School studying instead of partying and wish you could have partied more, you can easily identify with Amy and Molly.
Amy and Molly have the best onscreen friendship I’ve seen in a long time. Both Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein have this natural chemistry. You believe they’ve been friends since childhood. This is the perfect movie to see with your best friend.
I mentioned how this movie is “authentic”. Not just in its portrayal of High School, but also LGBTQ lifestyle. Amy, played by Kaitlyn Dever, is a Lesbian who has a crush on Ryan (Victoria Ruesga), a tomboy. When Amy finds out Ryan will also be at Nick’s party, she decided to join her friend Molly in going there.
What I love about how the movie’s portrayal of Amy’s homosexuality is how normal it treats it. It’s not a huge part of her arc. Yes, she is trying to get together with a girl she has feelings for, and is hoping she too is a lesbian. But her homosexuality is not something she’s keeping to herself. She states right at the beginning of the movie she’s into women, and the movie just accepts it. Her parents, (played by the brilliant Lisa Kudrow and Will Forte who both need to be in more movies!) don’t even seem to mind! Amy’s feelings for another girl is treated with the same normalcy and genuine emotion as any heterosexual’s feelings in a movie. I wish more movies would portray LGBTQ relationships this way.
The cast in this movie could not be more perfect. The standout for me was Billie Lourd as the drug-crazed Gigi. She steals every scene she’s in! She’s eccentric, strange, and captivating. In my humble opinion, she needs an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Gigi gets Amy and Molly into these drugs that leads to this drug trip that is easily the funniest scene in the movie! I won’t dare spoil it for you!
Jason Sudeikis (Olivia Wilde’s husband) gets many of the funniest lines in the movie as the principal of Amy and Molly’s high school.
I could go on and on. I could gush about this movie all day long. And you will too once you see it. As someone who recently finished college, “Booksmart” resonated with me. Not just with my memories of High School, both the good ones and the painful ones. But also with its themes of friendship and the stress of what the future holds. “Booksmart” is a movie for everyone. No matter what your background is or what your high school was like. And it’s a movie made by women. It stars women, was written by women, directed by a woman, and it’s about women.
If you are tired of sequels, reboots, remakes, and want something more original, I cannot recommend “Booksmart” enough. If you want to see more movies made by women and about women, you should go and support “Booksmart”. See it as many times as you would see “Avengers: Endgame”, and bring your ride or die. Booksmart is not only a good choice in the cinemas. It’s the smart choice.
No comments:
Post a Comment