Booksmart

This review may contain spoilers!

This has had a lot of comparisons to Superbad, but Booksmart is honestly in a league of its own and shines as one of the best comedies of the year. I would give Booksmart an 8.5/10.

Booksmart follows Amy and Molly, two straight A students who have locked down Ivy League schools. Things all go off the rails when they discover that a lot of the 'party students' in their year have managed to do the same; now they're going to do whatever it takes to experience the type of party life they've been missing out on. When watching this film I was completely staggered by how original the sense of humour was. This wasn't a comedy feature that would crumble apart on toilet humour or cheap, degrading lines; rather the film was crammed with seriously funny dialogue and a cast of characters that was unlike anything I'd seen. The film never feels desperate to find jokes but rather invents new ways to top itself scene by scene; moments like getting a Lyft ride from their principal, the doll scene or crashing graduation had me in fits of laughter. This film really holds its strengths from its depiction of very realistic and grounded characters who are all experiencing moments and emotions that we can really empathise with as an audience. In particular, the two leads for this film are unlike anyone else, I was fascinated by them and their chemistry as best friends was excellent. The cinematography for the film is really unique, I like how creative the framing gets and the visual style for the film actually aids the comedy a lot. The soundtrack for this movie is one of the best I've heard alongside a film this year, it captures the youthful tone and has some great tracks that hilariously accompany some signature scenes.

Beanie Feldstein, who played Molly, is a comedy powerhouse who constantly steals scenes with her sharp delivery and ability to bring out the funniest potential in a scene; Feldstein is a role that presents herself as very self-assured but she has a lot of self-doubt that she bottles up and depicts minutely throughout the film. Jason Sudeikis, who played Principal Brown, is very funny as the exasperated faculty leader waiting desperately for the school year to be over; Sudeikis plays to the uncomfortable situation of his character doubling as a Lyft driver really well. Lisa Kudrow and Will Forte, who played Charmaine and Doug respectively, are really entertaining as Dever's onscreen parents; the moments in which Kudrow shows extreme joy at spotting an old toy or Forte's blubbery near-breakdown over his daughter graduating and going on an OE are some quietly entertaining moments. Mason Gooding, who played Nick, really plays up to the stereotype of the popular jock who isn't too bright but as the film goes along Gooding shows a lot more about his role that you wouldn't expect; his scenes at the party with Feldstein are actually quite touching and the pair share some great chemistry in this moment that surprises you as a viewer. Skyler Gisondo, who played Jared, is a very awkward character who really seems in need of some friends and attention at first; Gisondo shows a character who is extremely likeable, perhaps an oddball but really just someone who feels like he's on the outside looking in. Diana Silvers, who played Hope, is a character with a tough shell and a mean streak to go with it; I was impressed with how the relationship between Silvers and Devers developed and evolved onscreen. Molly Gordon, who played Triple A, is a character who seems jaded and a rival to Feldstein's character initially; but Gordon really shifts audience perspective on this when you find out how her character got her nickname and how she actually feels about it in what was one of the more powerful scenes of the film. Austin Crute and Noah Galvin, who played Alan and George respectively, are some of the funniest characters in the film; Crute plays up to big dramatic moments while Galvin just has some of the best dialogue that will have you in stitches.

However, the best performance came from Kaitlyn Dever, who played Amy.This character, like many in this film, becomes so easy to relate to out of a very grounded performance and a clever sense of comedy. Dever really handles the more awkward side to this role well, she shows Amy to be someone not always wholly confident in the situations they are finding themselves in. Even when it comes to Amy's crush on Ryan you can see that self-doubt and uncertainty as to approaching her feelings. Feldstein and Dever have insane levels of chemistry together and they play off one another extremely well; yet I really enjoy how they both get to play strongly to different degrees of humour. Dever has a very straight and to the point way of bringing comedy to the scene which leads to some really abrupt and unexpected moments that are side-splittingly funny. There is a lot to say about bringing an already out lesbian character to screen and showing her navigating her romantic feelings in high school, it's a story not often told and it is presented and portrayed extremely well here.

This film is constantly taking risks and doing things that most comedies wouldn't even attempt or try to do which is why it's so successful; however, as with any project that takes risks some of those moments just don't land and there are instances when scenes based around a joke just don't work. Ultimately the risks are worth it but there are instances where the film flounders because all of a sudden the high school teacher is hooking up at a student party. The editing for the film also feels strongly off at times, there are cuts where it feels like whole scenes or sequences have been taken out. This really interrupts the flow of the feature at times, most notably in the final act.

Jessica Williams, who played Miss Fine, is a role that has some potential at first but it goes out the window the longer she's in the film; Williams doesn't look as sold on her character romancing a student and everything about that subplot just feels off. Victoria Ruesga, who played Ryan, has a very awkward way of approaching line delivery that doesn't fit with how her character is presented; Ruesga and Dever don't have a lot of chemistry which is what lets down the crush subplot somewhat. Billie Lourd, who played Gigi, is the character you find in comedy films who is crazy and can do anything for the sake of the joke; Lourd gets very over the top and wild in this film and it's hard to enjoy it alongside some of the more grounded characters and plot. Eduardo Franco, who played Theo, is a role with not a lot to him until the subplot he shares with Williams' role; as I've stated previously the romance between these two is just strange and a lot of that comes from Franco's side of things. Nico Hiraga, who played Tanner, is just here to play a generic party character and not do much else; Hiraga is the source of tomfoolery and physical humour but that falls into the background in a film like this. Michael Patrick O'Brien, who played Pat the Pizza Guy, is an odd character who feels a little at odds with the comedic tone of the film; O'Brien's creepy role hits the mark a little too well sometimes and his scene gets most of it's strength from the other performers in it.