Book Report

I had heard a little bit of buzz about a comedy movie from 2019 called Booksmart. In a nutshell, it was said to be a classic "teen gross-out comedy," but with two female characters at the center. Blockers, perhaps, if the focus were more on the kids and not shared with the parents?

It turns out that this description isn't totally accurate. It is a teen comedy for sure, and presents its own take on some of the tropes. But it's not a "gross-out" film, preferring instead to dial up the coming-of-age moments of self-discovery.

We're finally reaching a stage where Hollywood is taking a variety of existing movie types and remaking them with a wider range of characters, including different genders, races, sexuality, and backgrounds. Booksmart shows that there's more to these movies than just new representation; with new perspectives comes the opportunity to tell different stories too.

In this movie, lead characters Amy and Molly aren't just "out to get laid" or "blowing off steam." There's a subtle difference that makes all the difference: after spending their high school careers walking the straight and narrow, they've reached the conclusion that they could have relaxed and partied that entire time and still achieved everything they wanted academically. So now, before their graduation ceremony, that have one night to live it up.

Their wild night has them interacting with a variety of fun characters played by Jessica Williams, Jason Sudeikis, Billie Lourd, Skyler Gisondo, Noah Galvin, and more. Leads Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever get a brief send-off from parents played by Lisa Kudrow and Will Forte, and then it's off on an adventure.

The movie's big strength and weakness are sort of one and the same. You're actually made to care about these two friends, and what this wild night might do to that friendship. But because there's actually a plot being valued here, the jokes aren't always as sharp. Although the movie does bob a bit from set piece to set piece, it stays with each long enough to mine the narrative ore from it and not just the humor.

So ultimately, I think expectations play a pretty big part here. Mine weren't quite calibrated correctly, and I wound up feeling Booksmart was perhaps a B-. But it still felt "good" to me, and I think if I hadn't come to it expecting some kind of side-splitting comedy, I might have liked it better still. Perhaps it's a movie to put on your list.