Booksmart (2019)

Directed by: Olivia Wilde | comedy | 103 minutes | Actors: Kaitlyn Dever, Beanie Feldstein, Jessica Williams, Jason Sudeikis, Lisa Kudrow, Will Forte, Victoria Ruesga, Mason Gooding, Skyler Gisondo, Diana Silvers, Molly Gordon, Billy Lourd, Eduardo Franco, Nico Hiraga, Austin Crute, Noah Gavin, Michael Patrick O’Brien

Imagine if Hermione Granger had never met Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. Then her life would look something like Amy and Molly’s in “Booksmart,” two misfits who spent most of their school days behind the books. On the last day of school, Molly (Beany Feldstein) discovers in the unisex bathroom of her high school that her classmates, whom she has always dismissed as stupid and unambitious, like her and her best friend Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) have promising studies or careers. pursue. One high school girl goes to Yale like Molly, another is admitted to Stanford and yet another is recruited by Google. At first Molly doesn’t believe this, but to her ‘how can you, you don’t care about school at all’ the answer is ‘Yeah, we don’t just care about school though’. Molly persuades Amy to attend a classmate’s first party that night.

‘Booksmart’ then follows the two girls to see how they get to that party. The biggest problem is that – aloof if they have kept themselves away from their classmates all these years – they have no idea where the host lives. With the few handles they have, they try to get closer and closer to their ultimate goal. An additional challenge is that both Molly and Amy now finally want to do something about their secret crush; Molly likes Nick and Amy likes skater girl Ryan (Victoria Ruesga).

The most original thing about ‘Booksmart’ is the fact that in a ‘Superbad’-esque comedy, it’s two girls who go after their hormones, blunder, make friends from enemies, lose their innocence and win our hearts. In addition, it is a strong point that the classmates may have stereotypical character traits, but they are given enough space to become more than a cardboard side character. Best example of this is the eccentric rich loner Jared (Skyler Gisondo) and his girlfriend Gigi (Billie Lourd).

In terms of humor you have to classify ‘Booksmart’ in the infantile and vulgar corner, but every now and then there are very successful episodes, such as the scene where Molly and Amy accidentally get high, which is both funny and creative. Another very beautiful scene – but because of the emotional charge – is the one in the pool: Amy undresses at Ryan’s invitation to take a dip in the pool and in those few minutes (filmed in slow motion) goes through a huge character development . The ensuing quarrel between Amy and Molly also gives the film the necessary depth, because it shows that the friendship is less based on equality than Molly always thought.

As a comedy ‘Booksmart’ is therefore less successful than as a portrait of a teenage friendship, which comes across as authentic and moves you at the right moments, certainly in the second half of the film.