(MA15+) ★★★★
Director: Olivia Wilde.
Cast: Beanie Feldstein, Kaitlyn Dever, Billie Lourd, Diana Silvers, Skyler Gisondo, Jessica Williams, Lisa Kudrow, Will Forte, Jason Sudeikis, Molly Gordon, Noah Galvin, Austin Crute, Victoria Ruesga, Eduardo Franco, Nico Hiraga, Mason Gooding, Mike O'Brien.
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| The pole repair crew were on the scene. |
Remember that classic school-set movie about subverting expectations and stereotypes, discovering your true identity, and realising no one knows who they really are in high school?
Am I talking about The Breakfast Club or Booksmart? The answer is both.
They're great timeless themes, which is why The Breakfast Club has endured, and Booksmart will too. Olivia Wilde's feature film debut has been likened to Superbad, but the truth is Booksmart is so much deeper, richer and bolder. It's also funny as fuck, boasts a cracking soundtrack, and stars a note-perfect cast.
Molly (Feldstein) and Amy (Dever) are two high-achieving, straight-laced high school bookworms who discover on the day before graduation that the kids they perceived to be slackers, wasters, and losers have also managed to get grades good enough to get them into America's top colleges - except they did it while enjoying themselves.
With one night of high school left, Molly and Amy set out to make up for lost time, by enjoying themselves like they've never done before.
The setting is perfect for self-discovery and some classic coming-of-age moments - there's the heartbreak, the gross-out, the make-out, and the accidental drug freak-out. But what's fresh and fascinating is the way Wilde's film weaves its tale of identity and exploration through so many characters. Feldstein and Dever's Molly and Amy are outstanding, hilarious and hold the film together, but there is a fascinating parade of flakes, fakes, floozies and fools on the side that we also get to learn about along the way.
How these kids are perceived and who they really are (and how they don't fully understand who they are) makes for a vibrant and beautiful mess that splatters across the canvas of a "one night on the town" scenario. It feels realistic too - the characters, though convenient in their characteristics, don't come off as kids written by adults. Their existential problems are intriguing, and delivered with humour and heart.
Wilde's direction is assured and energetic, with a couple of fantastical moments that may divide audiences in terms of their effectiveness. But she's taken a classic coming-of-age chassis, updated it, chucked on a few mod-cons, and given it a very fresh paint job. The resulting ride is fast, fun and will take you back to your youth.
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