Booksmart

Booksmart is a 2019 American coming-of-age comedy film directed by Olivia Wilde (in her feature directorial debut), from a screenplay by Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, Susanna Fogel, and Katie Silberman. The film was theatrically released in the United States on May 24, 2019.

Plot
Academic overachievers Amy and Molly thought keeping their noses to the grindstone gave them a leg up on their high school peers. But on the eve of graduation, the best friends suddenly realize that they may have missed out on the special moments of their teenage years. Determined to make up for lost time, the girls decide to cram four years of not-to-be-missed fun into one night -- a chaotic adventure that no amount of book smarts could prepare them for.

Why It's Smart

 * 1) It's a comedy film that doesn't 100% rely on raunchy humor or swearing and manages to make the most out of its R rating.
 * 2) * The raunchy humor also doesn't distract from the great plot the film has.
 * 3) * It also manages to be progressive without sounding too pretentious.
 * 4) Both leading actresses, Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein, have great chemistry with each other, and they give off great performances too.
 * 5) * Director Olivia Wilde asked Feldstein and Dever to live together before filming, and it pays off. They really feel like convincing best friends.
 * 6) The film gives off Lady Bird vibes, in which Feldstein also starred in.
 * 7) It manages to be just as great as films such as Superbad. It even surpasses what Superbad originally did.
 * 8) The two main characters are lovable and strong and manage to stay best friends throughout the whole movie.
 * 9) * The film also portrays Amy's sexuality well without making it the butt of all jokes.
 * 10) No character is stereotyped, meaning it has an open-minded take on race and gender identification.
 * 11) It manages to teach about the complexities of friendship and of life itself.
 * 12) The hallucination scene where the two girls think they've turned into stop-motion dolls after consuming drug-ridden strawberries. It's also perfectly animated too.
 * 13) Every scene goes from an outrageous moment to another outrageous moment, and every one of them is utterly funny, especially the scenes where Gigi appears out of nowhere everywhere the two girls go.
 * 14) Gigi is the best character in the movie, providing some of its best jokes.
 * 15) Amazing soundtrack that's filled with raunchy rap songs that go well with every scene.
 * 16) "Was that Cardi B?"

The Only Bad Quality

 * 1) Dever's acting can sometimes feel empty and dead-eyed.

Reception
Booksmart was universal acclaim from critics and audiences. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 97% based on 338 reviews, with an average rating of 8.28/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Fast-paced, funny, and fresh, Booksmart does the seemingly impossible by adding a smart new spin to the coming-of-age comedy." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 84 out of 100, based on 51 critics, indicating "universal acclaim."

Trivia

 * The phrase "Malala" used by the two girls is their code word for unconditional support.
 * The real Malala Yousafzai has acknowledged her role in the movie, praising it.
 * One poster for the movie is drawn to be a homage to late 1970s/early 1980s high school/college sex comedies such as Animal House.

Videos
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