BOOKSMART REVIEW
Starring: Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever
Directed By: Olivia Wilde (Debut)
Rated: R
Runtime: 1 hour 42 minutes
Booksmart is, again, the funniest movie I’ve seen this year.Starring Jonah Hill’s sister Beanie Feldstein, it’s easy to call this movie the female version of “Superbad”.The 2007 comedy starring Jonah Hill and Michael Cera has withstood the test of time and become one of the funniest comedies about high school ever.
Booksmart shares a lot with Superbad.Both are very R-rated comedies.Both star someone in the Jonah Hill family.Both are essentially movies about friendship at a crossroads of life.Both movies are delivered in a way that’s very plain spoken, feels real, feels like this is how kids act sort of thing.
The movie is the debut feature from actress Olivia Wilde.And she shows some real chops behind the camera.Like a lot of successful high school comedies, the adult cast members are bit parts played by people we’ve come to know and love over the years.Jason Sudekis plays the principal, he got the job by sleeping with the director.True story.Jessica Williams from The Daily Show plays a teacher.Lisa Kudrow and Will Forte play one of the star’s parents.They’re all very small parts, but very amusing.That’s the point I like to hit home when I see a successful comedy, everyone gets to be funny.Some movies, only the star gets the big laughs and that always makes for a bad time at the movies.
Booksmart tells the story of two straight A students who decide on the last night of high school to find, and attend, a party. Of course, everything that can wrong does go wrong along the way, and that’s the fun of the movie.There’s a real heart to this movie too.You remember the way you felt as high school was winding down, and how much you thought you knew about the world.How much everyone told you things were going to change forever, and how much you wish you could go back and appreciate those moments.Don’t take time for granted, don’t take friendships for granted.
Great writing.The characters are well-written.Fully formed ideas on screen.Not one dimensional, not the same joke over and over.One of the characters is gay and it’s presented in a novel way.That of a normal human being.It isn’t the source of any jokes.She just happens to be gay.
Aside from that, everything is portrayed in a very real way.Whether you’re an adult or a kid, successful or a failure, no one in life knows what they’re doing.We’re all faking it to some degree.No one really likes to admit that to themselves or others.You can make all the plans you want for your life, but it’s never going to go according to that plan.We all try and do the best we can.Some days it works brilliantly, other days…not so much.
On a scale "See It/Stream It/Skip It" -- See It – Booksmart is the funniest movie I’ve seen this year.I can’t express how much fun I had watching this movie.
If you liked Superbad, Easy A, or Clueless you might like Booksmart
4 out of 5 stars for Booksmart