High school graduation is exciting, but it can be nerve wracking as well. You’re done with school finally, but then if you’re going to college you’re not really done, and if you’re not going to college you still have to figure out what to do with your life. It’s exhausting and awesome and cool but awful and not fun.
Olivia Wilde marks her directorial debut with “Booksmart” about two best friends who spent all their free time studying and doing homework during high school to ensure that they got into the best colleges and securing their dream futures. After realizing that their peers also got into great schools despite partying hard frequently, Molly (Beanie Feldstein) and Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) decide they must party hard to change their uptight reputations the night before graduation.
Molly’s plan is simple: attend the party of one of the school’s most well known jocks and while Amy is hesitant to attend, Molly convinces her to attend by telling her that this is her last chance to make a move on Ryan (Victoria Ruesga) the girl she’s been crushing on. There’s only one problem: since no one expects Molly and Amy to party they haven’t been given an address and have no idea where the party is. This is where the hilarity truly begins as things go from bad to worse as they try to figure out how to get to the party.
The characters are over the top stereotypes of all the high school tropes. Of course these people don’t actually exist in reality, but they’re all endearing in their own way. The entire cast also has great chemistry with one another so they are able to play off of everything given to them with a wide range of emotions.
“Booksmart” is a coming of age story, but it’s different from other films in this genre as it focuses on two female friends, one of whom is queer, and their coming of age doesn’t come from love interests or losing their virginity or any of the usual tropes. Amy and Molly have each other’s back and they feel genuine love for each other and that comes across in the playful, but empowering way they speak to one another. The majority of the gay jokes in the film come from Amy’s parents (Lisa Kudrow and Will Forte) who try so hard to be accepting of their daughter, that their actions aren’t incredibly helpful which is wonderful. Ultimately what our protagonists learn is that they don’t need to micro manage every second of their lives to succeed.
Hard work is important in order to succeed, but just as important is taking breaks to enjoy life. It is hard to trust that things will fall into place, but sometimes the best thing you can do is trust that the choices you’ve made and your hard work will lead you exactly where you need to go. This is a wonderful lesson to learn.
“Booksmart” is funny, silly and it doesn’t take itself too seriously. This is a female centered film that shows how beautiful female friendships can be. I’m tired of seeing films with toxic female friendships or relationships and this is not that in any way. “Booksmart” may be about a specific generation of girls, but honestly anyone can find something to love about it. It’s hard to become the person you want to be and to achieve the life that you want, but most of the obstacles in front of us are placed there by us, but with a strong support system and belief in yourself you can overcome them.
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