© FAKESHEMP.NET
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Podcasts
    • Podcasts
    • Good Movie Monday
    • WTF was that?
  • MEDIA
    • Videos >
      • Photos
  • GLG
  • Blog
  • Interviews
  • About

BOOKSMART

30/5/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
2019 | DIR: OLIVIA WILDE | STARRING: KAITLYN DEVER, BEANIE FELDSTEIN | REVIEW BY ALEX MAYNARD.

Picture
I’d argue that coming-of-age comedies are expected to lean towards either silliness or sentimentality; picture a scale with Superbad and Lady Bird at opposing ends. As these examples demonstrate, both approaches can be done well with the right people involved. BOOKSMART achieves the remarkable feat of sitting squarely in the middle of this imaginary scale, constantly escalating its absurd situations while keeping the focus on the beautiful friendship at its centre. In her feature-length directorial debut, Olivia Wilde has delivered a smart, confident film bolstered by its perfect casting and laugh-out-loud funny script.
Molly (Beanie Feldstein) and Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) are two of their grade’s loudest achievers, seemingly destined for good colleges and bright futures since they started high school. Although the girls are best friends and cherish each other’s company, their dedication to their studies has come at the expense of active social lives. Upon learning that some classmates have been just as successful despite going out every weekend, Molly understandably begins to doubt the path she’s chosen.

If you’ve never found yourself in that exact situation, you can probably think of someone from the year you graduated who fits the profile (even just in general, FOMO is a painfully relatable feeling). BOOKSMART takes this idea in a more personal direction than you might expect, with the fear being recast as whether Molly and Amy are seen for who they really are, rather than, for instance, popular kids not thinking they’re cool. Subsequently, the pair embark on a mission to attend the classic ‘night before graduation house 
party’ that only exists in films, but once again, the journey they take to get there is anything but ordinary.

While Molly and Amy have occasional disagreements throughout the film, BOOKSMART shines by never taking their bond for granted. Instead of simply telling us the girls are inseparable, there are myriad small moments which offer further insight into their dynamic, like showering the other with exaggerated compliments when they reveal their outfits for the party (without even mentioning they’re wearing the same thing), or having secret code words for when they need support no questions asked. It’s an all-time great portrayal of lived-in friendship, with the script never needing to justify this behaviour; in fact, it’s used to cringeworthy, hilarious effect by having Amy’s parents assume the pair are a couple.

Picture

​Yet despite Feldstein and Dever being brilliantly game for every scenario they’re thrown in together, separating them for a few pivotal scenes allows each to stand out on her own too. The characters have distinct arcs, though Amy’s struggle to overcome her anxiety is admittedly a little more interesting than Molly learning to not be so controlling. Perhaps most importantly for a comedy, both actors are also effortlessly funny, from their bizarre facial expressions brought on by a bad drug trip, to the film’s many, many one-liners.

Much like Superbad did for Jonah Hill (real life brother of Feldstein) and Michael Cera, BOOKSMART should make Feldstein and Dever into bona fide stars. Likewise, Billie Lourd and Skyler Gisondo are standouts among the supporting cast, arguably because their characters receive the most screen time out of Molly and Amy’s classmates. However, this shouldn’t suggest that the minor characters needed more attention. By contrast, almost every named student not only has a clear personality, but cleverly subverted my expectations of them; in reality, there’s no reason a jock wouldn’t also be a big Harry Potter fan. Building on the adage of not judging books by their covers, BOOKSMART’s characters are living reminders that people’s identities are constantly developing and shouldn’t be pigeonholed at a young age.

Meanwhile, it’s easy to forget this film is the work of a first-time director. We’re in something of a renaissance for actors moving behind the camera (Jordan Peele, Greta Gerwig and Bradley Cooper being the most high-profile examples) and Wilde is the latest to make the jump with a clear vision. Having starred in plenty of comedies herself, it’s no surprise Wilde knows when to linger on a joke, such as Molly and Amy dancing in the street on the way to school, or pull back and let it speak for itself (once again, the script is packed with one-liners, but ending with a smash cut following a particularly exuberant outburst was a personal highlight for me).

Similarly, there are creative flourishes during the film’s subtler moments which I wouldn’t have anticipated from a debut. For instance, a panic attack Amy has at the party is depicted as a quietly terrifying out-of-body experience, with the set becoming blurred and labyrinthine around her. Although I won’t say any more to keep BOOKSMART’s most enjoyable surprises intact, the sheer number of set pieces Wilde readily adapts to, is impressive.

It’ll be a shame if we start to see less of Olivia Wilde as an actor, after all (very mild spoiler warning?), 
she doesn’t even make a cameo appearance here. Given how much BOOKSMART gets right, though, her future as a director seems as bright as it does inevitable. As I mentioned above, the lead performances should likewise be career-making for Feldstein and Dever, who embody so much of what makes the film a sheer delight to watch. I found myself smiling constantly throughout, and suspect I’ll be rewatching and recommending it for years to come.

Booksmart opens theatrically in Australia on July 11, 2019.
Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.


    OUR WRITERS
    GLENN COCHRANE
    JARRET GAHAN
    SHAUN CRAWFORD
    ALEX MAYNARD
    CHRIS THOMPSON​
    Picture

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    September 2010
    April 2010

    RSS Feed

© 2018 FakeShemp.Net    All rights reserved.  FakeShemp.Net Illustrations by MJ Barros. 
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Podcasts
    • Podcasts
    • Good Movie Monday
    • WTF was that?
  • MEDIA
    • Videos >
      • Photos
  • GLG
  • Blog
  • Interviews
  • About