Booksmart (2019)

USA
directed by: Olivia Wilde
written by: Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, Katie Silberman
starring: Beanie Feldstein, Kaitlyn Dever, Billie Lourd
seen on 6th October, 2019

Damn, that's the last time Thirteen recommends something on Instagram and I immediately excitedly run to watch it. Setting aside the fact that I truly hate this sort of exaggerated depiction of "friendship" (is it trying to tell me that people have to argue to death at least once, manipulate each other and secretly hate and despise each other to be real friends?), my brain got a real workout trying to figure out if it's supposed to be a comedy, as in the actual genre, in which case the characters are caricatures on purpose, or if it's supposed to be a coming of age drama seasoned with humor in which case wtf?

Moreover, who is the intended target audience for this film? Is Booksmart able to entertain today's high school teens? Because it seems to me, despite the subject and all the Gen Z glamour, that it's aimed more at adults (millenials, given I started throwing these labels around). Maybe it's just some sort of forced attempt at levity from the debuting director that's confusing me and leading me to believe that no one should be able to enjoy this film, because everything that's supposed to be funny and spontaneous reeks of paper and outside manipulation. The first scene, main characters meeting each other and us viewers for the first time, doing and impromtu dance - I only see actors following directions, not two people really enjoying each other's company. 

The script could also use some refinement in the "show, don't tell" category. There is a bunch of scenes where the characters (especially Beanie Feldstein) unnecessarily say some things that were already (or should be) obvious from what happened. The first serious conversation with Jared on the ship is full of it. Maybe it's supposed to serve as a characterization of Beanie's Molly and not as a source of information for the viewer, but in that case I would like the screenplay to do a better job of it, this way it only layers the same information on top of the old ones and it feels a bit stale. 

And some positive notes to end on: The episode I enjoyed the most was the brief encounter with the pizza delivery guy, and since I can't say that any performance captured my heart, I will at least say that Jessica Williams seemed exceptionally beautiful to me.