“Malala.” Rarely does one word say it all, and I won’t leave it at that. But I could. Malala. Imagine two high school senior girls who use “Malala” as their secret code word and I imagine most of my readers will know immediately whether or not they want to see Booksmart. Yeah, you probably have to know at least something about Malala Yousafzai to imagine the kind of American teen who would use her name as a trigger, but for those who do, you can probably stop reading.
Every year, there seems one R-rated teen comedy that stands above the others. Oh sure, it has all the same elements as any high school comedy: hedonism, party culture, cliques, outcastes, academic concerns, teens you’ll never actually meet but add color to the narrative, and a kid or two in search of themselves. And it seems every year like one of these is sharper than the others; perhaps it taps into latent emotional insight long forgotten, or not-so-long forgotten depending on your age. Booksmart is that movie.
It is the last day of school and fiercely loyal BFFs Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) and Molly (Beanie Feldstein, which is a terrible name for an aspiring star, but not half bad for an aspiring supporting actress) greet one other with their standard adorable nerdy dance ritual. The two have made a conscious choice to devote their four years to hard work, light play, and the payoff has come: Ivy League invitations for both. Molly is class president and Yale bound, which seems like a great starter résumé, but her reality is little better than social pariahdom; she’s the kind of gal who disgustedly corrects grammar on bathroom graffiti. The turtlenecks on her relatively squat body don’t help her image any. Social awkwardness also plagues Amy, a stringy out-of-the-closet lesbian for two years running, but still too timid to do anything about it. Oh well, at least they have each other, right? And they tell themselves that precious and coveted lie that all smart kids wear as an insecurity blanket: “It’s ok; one day I will be more successful than all these other jerks and on that day, I will be satisfied.”
There’s only one scene I didn’t like in this film, but it is a necessary evil, because without it, there’s no plot. Molly is indulging in the “everyone welcome” bathroom (they have that? I guess they do) and overhears a co-ed group of ratf***ers dissing her. Molly emerges from her stall and makes the bad move, announcing she’s Yale-bound, and God help you losers. The trio of douchebags reply with stinging realities of their own: one Yale, one Stanford, and one six-figure tech job straight from high school. Yes, these are screenplay exaggerations, and yes, there’s a 0% chance that A-student and class president Molly wouldn’t at least know her competition (and know it well), but the message is clear: Molly’s diligence and brown-nosing got exactly squat, the stoner kids have great futures, too. Hence, warpath Molly is born; she is gonna have at least one night of high school par-tay if it kills her.
So no, this film isn’t about rocket science, social justice, or anything Malala Yousafzai might stand for. But it is about two dorky girls consciously opting to let loose, and the results are awesome. “What makes this one special?” you ask. Let’s start with the leads who are every bit the female equivalent of geek chic that we saw in Michael Cera, Jonah Hill, and McLovin’ a decade ago in Superbad. Is Superbad really a decade old? Almost. Yikes. Then there are the two rejected parties, an empty disco boat and one of those host-mystery dinner party things. There’s the principal (Jason Sudeikis) who drives an Uber after school. There’s the mandatory drug abuse which ends up not in irresponsibility, but in literal Barbie doll fantasy. And there’s the selection of throwback rebellion anthem, “You Oughta Know” for karaoke time. Honestly, I haven’t even approached what makes Booksmart special; this is a clever and funny film that loves its characters, all of them.
I wouldn’t have guessed that first time director and screen vixen Olivia Wilde had any honest understanding of geek chic; I would be wrong. Very wrong. Booksmart is screen smart and most enjoyable, even, I daresay, for those of us who don’t recognize the name “Malala.”
♪I want you to watch this film in front of me
I wish every film had writing this good
A younger version of “Glee?”
Not even slightly.
Would you pay for this in a theater?
Does it speak to the gentry?
Wanna sneak in for free?
Like I did right after Rafiki
Cause the movie we shared for the hearing impaired
Wasn’t simple enough for you
To make you stay. No
And every time we shared popcorn
Did you know that I wished you stayed awake?
Stayed awake, but you’re still a flake
And I’m here … in the theater
To remind you nerds have a point-of-view
It’s not fair to make Rudy
The voice of every under-who
You tend to show♫
Rated R, 102 Minutes
Director: Olivia Wilde
Writer: Susanna Fogel, Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, Katie Silberman
Genre: Nerdy girlz rule!
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: People who feel like suckers
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: The standard crowd of teen comedy haters
♪ Parody Inspired by “You Oughta Know”
