On a guys night out you would expect my friends to say lets just stay in the house and play some video games on the Xbox. This is a typical conversation that we have unless its a movie night. The things that get the boys out of the door are you run of the mill action movies. So how was I so successful in convincing a group of guys in their mid to late 30's to see a film directed by Olivia Wilde. Not starring Wilde, just directing, about two academic overachievers named Amy and Molly who spent their entire years in school staying out of trouble, hitting the books and getting into the best schools just to find out that the kids they grew up with all partied like rock stars and still got into the same schools?
On the surface this doesn't seem like our kind of movie. Well, we're the kind of guys who will see almost anything but lets just say we're the stereotypical red blooded American males. No way would we buy a ticket but something was in the synopsis that still was intriguing enough to get us in the car and to the theaters for the screening. After seeing the trailers and reviews our expectations grew a little more. I was sold from the get go but some of my friends required a nudge. Seeing a movie about two funny girls who are trying to have an epic night together before graduation seems like a plot that's been handled, remixed and done to death. Superbad kept coming to mind and a little American Pie.
Though the plot was in the vein of "been done before" there was still something that this movie offered us that none has ever before. The bond between the two may characters was something that felt believable. The kinds in the era of time that we are in today was captured extremely well. There was no typical bully versus geek scenario. These were not the most popular kids but the ones you would think were considered popular were not trying to start fights that needed to be handled in a Karate tournament with a crane kick. No one was going out of their way to hurt anyone else but at the same time it was clear that if you were not apart of the crowd you wanted to be apart of it was because you took yourself out of it and did your own thing. No one tormented you for it. That was refreshing in this film.
This movie tackled the notion that when you're a teenager and you're headed for the real world, life isn't just about checking off the boxes its about taking a little risk and putting yourself out there. Even though Amy was a lesbian and not in the closet she was still isolating herself from what she could have had if she took further steps. Molly may feel she is destined for greatness but her character was more about prejudging that she couldn't see the big picture right in front of her until it was too late.
Now once we get through the set up lets get to the meat. This movie was funny. Extremely funny. In comparison to the other mentioned films, the jury is still out on which ones I enjoyed more. but here is something that I could say about this film that I'm not going to say about the others. I want to see more from these characters. This movie is book smart on the basis that it can live in a world where extreme ridiculous things can happen and the way you adapt to them, one may need to be smart about. Other comedies just relied on the ridiculous and it just continue to be ridiculous. In other words, a movie like American Pie and Superbad were funny people in a ridiculous world where Booksmart had funny things happen that tend to be a tad ridiculous but the way through the moments were handled with more maturity and I give a tremendous amount of credit to the writing and Olivia Wilde as a director for pulling off this tidbit.
You could easily go into traditions and take the easy way out. The pretty boy jock is a jerk, the popular rich girl is mean. No, this movie was more complex than that because people are more than what we assume they are most of the time.
Here are a list of actors that stood out to me in this film.
Diana Silvers, she is also staring in the horror/thriller Ma. In this movie her connection with the main cast was shocking and not what I expected. Expect to laugh so hard in her scene. You've been warned.
Here are a list of actors that stood out to me in this film.
Diana Silvers, she is also staring in the horror/thriller Ma. In this movie her connection with the main cast was shocking and not what I expected. Expect to laugh so hard in her scene. You've been warned.
Jessica Williams
When I first saw her pop on the scene I thought to myself "Yes, this queen fits perfectly in this world. I knew I was not going to be disappointed in her character and I was not.
Mason Gooding, son of Kuba Gooding Jr. I remember seeing him on Ballers, staring The Rock, I assumed his character was one dimensional. Boy, was I wrong. I see a bright future for this young actor.
Release date: May 24, 2019 (USA)
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