Booksmart (2019)
Director: Olivia Wilde
Writers: Susanna Fogel, Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, Katie Silberman
Actors: Kaitlyn Dever, Beanie Feldstein, Jessica Williams, Jason Sudeikis, Lisa Kudrow, Will Forte
Two dedicated seniors decide to spend their last night in High School having fun and letting loose for once in their lifetime. Sounds simple doesn’t it? Seems like you have seen something similar a million times before. Well you are not wrong. Coming of age high school films always seem simple on paper. Yet at the hands of a competent director you get something much more. We saw this from last year’s Eighth Grade, where Bo Burnham showed everyone what it is like to be an awkward teen in middle school. He focused on recreating an authentic feeling of what it is like to be awkward, shy, and sometimes cringey (but in a good way). The year before that we got Lady Bird, which was an amazingly simple story about the last year of a girl before she goes off to college. Greta Gerwig really shined with her unique editing style along with a truly touching mother daughter relationship intertwined within the story. Booksmart feels like a combination of the two. It has a very similar editing style to Lady Bird. You can almost split the movie into multiple short films and it wouldn’t feel off. Yet it also has that awkward charm that is experienced when you are still a teenager in highschool. I am not saying that Booksmart copied any of these films. On the contrary, my comparison merely shows that it is as good as some of the great coming of age films that have come out over the past couple of years. Whenever I go into any of these films I am always so scared. There is such a fine line between incredibly cringey and amazingly witty when it comes to teen coming of age films. Booksmart falls in the latter half.
What surprised me most about this film is that it is a directorial debut from Olivia Wilde. Yet she shows off such maturity and talent as if she has been making films for over 30 years. The film is laser focused on what it wants to show and when it wants to show it. There is no compensation, every single scene and line of dialogue has its purpose. Which is why the film never feels like it is overstaying its welcome. As I said in the intro, if you split this film up, it can very easily make up 10 short films that would be totally cohesive and entertaining on their own. That’s the brilliance of this film. It doesn’t dwell on any certain event. Things happen and life moves on. That’s how high school works. You don’t have time to worry about one fuck up, you have to move on and wait for the next one to happen. The constant shifting of pace and environment really helped with the overall flow of the film. Furthermore, it amazed me how quickly I got connected with all of the characters. I’m not just talking about the two main characters. Even the side characters, we did not need any elaborate backstory for each. Through clever writing and smart exposition we were able to know the characters as if they were people we hung out with on a daily basis. All of this just adds to the success of Wilde’s format in Booksmart, and it is what made the film flow so well.
Aside from the sporadic editing and clever story structure, Booksmart has something that separates it from a lot of the coming of age teen films that are just there to entertain. It has a truly genuine take on what it’s like to have a best friend. Underneath all of the chaos and mess that is happening in this film, the only constant is the friendship between Amy and Molly. Their relationship really hit home with me. Even though I am not an 18 year old American high school girl, for some reason I could relate so much with both of them. Because Wilde created a story that can relate to so many people in different ways. We have all been picked on, put in an awkward situation, or even fought with our best friends. We have also seen that done so many times in films. But the way it is portrayed in Booksmart has this authenticity that you cannot fake. It is not something that some bigwigs in Hollywood can just force into a script. The connection to the script can be felt from Wilde, and it is translated to the screen really well. The film starts and ends with the same note. No matter what happens between friends, we will always be there with each other to goof around. And even though that is not the most thoughtful or original idea, it doesn’t matter. Sometimes we just need a reminder that friends will always be there for you, and Booksmart does that in spades.
Booksmart is a genuinely enjoyable film. Even though you may not prefer watching another coming of age high school film about two girls goofing off. Just trust me and watch it. It has its flaws sure, but they are not so blaring that they will truly ruin your enjoyment of this film. I guarantee you will walk away from the film with at least a couple of laughs and a smile. It never overstays its welcome and goes by super quick. By having this sporadic and choppy editing style, the story keeps you engaged and never allows the viewer to doze off or let their mind wander. This fact is complimented by the witty dialogue that just had me smiling the whole time. I don’t think there is much else to say about this film. It is not perfect. I still prefer something like Lady Bird for its deeper subtext and character development. But Booksmart was still fun, witty, and hilarious. Do yourself a favor and watch this film if you are ever torn on what to watch.
