Booksmart continues the long tradition of films about two kids the summer after high school, growing over the course of one wild night. It feels most indebted to 2008’s Superbad, especially knowing that Beanie Feldstein is Jonah Hill’s sister. But there’s also shades of classics like Dazed and Confused and Can’t Hardly Wait.
At times it feels like Booksmart could be a dozen different films that you’ve seen before. And although it’s understandable why so many films draw inspiration from a moment where everything feels uncertain, Olivia Wilde‘s film is at its strongest when it’s trying to do something different.
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Booksmart follows Molly (Beanie Feldstein) and Amy (Kaitlyn Dever): co-dependent, nerdy best friends who are undeniably the beating heart of the narrative. Feldstein and Dever are Booksmart’s triumph, and their chemistry and comedic timing makes their friendship the most rewarding through line. Some of the best jokes stem from the specificity of really close female friendships, like the matching outfits, hyperbolic praise and frank discussions of sex and sexuality.
Booksmart often aims for tender without quite getting there, but the most truly moving scene is where Molly and Amy say goodbye at the airport. Does it make sense for Molly to drive Amy instead of her parents? Not at all, but it’s worth the suspension of disbelief.
So many films set the summer before college love to leave on a bittersweet note as the characters grow apart. But my favourite moment of Booksmart is where they undercut this with Amy running back to suggest they get pancakes. It’s refreshing for the ending to emphasis why friendship is worth all the pain it inevitably brings.
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The biggest problem with Booksmart is that its emotional detachment prevents it from committing to tell the story it wants to tell. There are moments when it’s too neat – prioritising clean, polished direction and textbook joke set-up over smaller moments that could give the film more depth.
The emotional motivations of any teenager are confusing and often contradictory, but instead of exploring the messier side to growing up, Booksmart often takes the easiest way out so it can set up the next gag or set piece. Almost everything about Booksmart feels slightly too polished, and less grounded as a result.
The clothes, quick witticisms and the parties especially, feel aspirational rather than relatable. And although there’s nothing wrong with an unrealistic depiction of teen life, it seems at odds with the film’s core message. Booksmart wants to argue that you should get to know your peers beyond a surface level, but the audience never gets to see beneath the surface of the film’s slick exterior.
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The controlled approach to filmmaking may be necessary to manage the aspects of Booksmart that feel overstuffed – especially when it comes to the number of side characters. In comparison to classics like Dazed and Confused, where small characters are established effortlessly, Booksmart seems laborious in its effort to humanise every single character.
Molly and Amy’s classmates are made up of veteran teen actors, recognisable from Love, Victor, Moxie, Santa Clarita Diet and being Carrie Fisher’s daughter. The acting is excellent, but can feel slightly detached in its professionalism – lacking a raw energy that fuels so many of Booksmart’s predeccors.
Every character will tell you why you should sympathise with them, rather than allowing the audience to come to the conclusion themselves. The most successful attempt is with Jared (Skyler Gisondo), through whom Booksmart keenly observes that the worst thing you can do is try too hard. Jared neatly strikes the balance between humour, repulsion and loneliness, and when he tells Molly ‘No one at this entire school knows me at all.’ it feels earned. We’ve had the groundwork to know why Jared is a heart-breaking character, but others remain an enigma.
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It can feel like Booksmart is erasing all the interesting bumps and smaller considerations in order to streamline the coming-of-age film to its purest form. But its slicker directing makes a case for itself in three major set pieces starting about halfway through.
The first, a scene in which Molly and Amy, whilst high, hallucinate that they’re actually barbie dolls is so unexpected and detailed that it’s the funniest part of the whole film. It’s a sequence that films with more commitment to realism couldn’t fit in without ruining the tone, but it works perfectly in Booksmart’s most whimsical section.
The second is Molly’s daydream when they finally arrive at Nick’s party, where everyone else melts away and they dance together. It’s so sweet whilst also tapping into the unique teenage female experience, and it does so much for Molly’s character. She talks the talk of being above it all but really, she just wants the boy she likes to like her back.
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Finally, we have the one-shot of Amy walking through the party, soaking wet, and looking for Molly. Dever does so much with so little and masterfully encapsulates the loneliness and desperation felt when you just want to go home. Through the long, unbroken shot, Booksmart takes a second to capture every emotion without undercutting the tension with a joke.
It’s so tempting to compare Booksmart to older, sometimes better, films that established the tropes, but it’s unique sequences like these ones where the film truly feels electric. Despite the fact that it has too many subplots, and that Molly only treats her classmates as people when they prove to be as smart as she is – despite everything, Booksmart is lovely.
It’s truly funny and makes you want to root for Molly and Amy. When the end pulls all the moving parts together, it’s filled with so much joy that you can’t help but feel uplifted. Booksmart is best when laying groundwork for future last-night-before-graduation films. And I can’t wait to see an homage to Molly and Amy crashing their own graduation at the last minute.
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