"Booksmart” Review
Who would've guessed that Olivia Wilde can make such an amazing movie for her debut directorial effort. It's a coming-of-age story reminiscent of Superbad which went on to launch the careers of several young actors and this one will most likely do that same. Not only are all of the performances incredible but so are the characters. Coming-of-age movies are kind of my thing. So this is totally something I'm into and I had a blast. For the most part.
Booksmart takes place over roughly 24 hours of story time. It's a day before bffs Molly (Beanie Feldstein) and Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) are to graduate. These girls are the most academic in their class and basically textbook model students. They go through an existential crisis and decide to go to a house party so they can cross that from their bucket list and of course, shit happens and hilarity ensues.
From the very first scene we get a strong sense of who these characters are. Through some clever writing, dialogue, and improv. But something else that we get a strong sense of is the movie's editing style... It's very aggressive and it's not gonna stop being so over-edited until the credits finish rolling. There's a lot of brilliance in its direction especially during its final act and it's unfortunate that the movie never truly feels as confident as it sounds. Literally. It's loud and relies heavily on its soundtrack. A lot of it feels on-the-nose, a lot of it I enjoy, and a lot of it I hated. Music-wise, it's a mixed bag and I wouldn't have made such a big deal of this if the movie hadn't kept subjecting me to its quirky music choices, its uneven audio mixing and frantic audio editing. It's not gonna bother most people, but It bothered me to no end.
I absolutely loved how it manages to tell a cohesive narrative while letting every minor character have their moment without them overstaying their welcome. They all have motivations and a logical reason to do what they do despite how unrealistic and out of this world a lot of the beats are. I usually watch coming-of-age movies for their realism and this one is not like that... at all. But I was totally fine with that. The movie even takes a moment to experiment with a different aesthetic. It's weird and it only enhances the fun I had watching it. The grounded character moments leading up to its climax is phenomenal and the events that follow are well earned and makes the whole crazy story worth revisiting for years to come.
Booksmart is a feel good high school party movie anchored with strong character writing and Feldstein and Dever's electric chemistry that transcends their fictional presence. It's a very fun, cringey good time. I'm definitely excited for whatever Olivia Wilde does next behind the camera.