Ty Watches "Bottoms"
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Over the weekend I was finally able to see the movie "Bottoms". I remember previews for this and wanting to see it. I remember it getting very good reviews after it was released and wanting to see it even more. I remember hearing possible awards buzz surrounding the movie and wanting to see it the most. But time got away from me. The winter is the busiest time for me as far as coaching and dad duty goes. But, we had a date night, it was my turn to pick the movie and "Bottoms" was streaming on Amazon Prime for free. So we watched.
I loved this movie. I laughed at this more than most comedies that have come out in the past four or five years. The basic plot is, two nerdy, gay high school girls start a fight club to meet their crushes. That is the short version. But there is so much more on screen. First off, this is a high school spoof of a movie. When I looked up the cast, no actor was younger than 20 years old. But this was a situation where you could tell it was done with intention. The creators wanted actors that looked young, but we all know that they are not very young. This made some of the stuff we watched even funnier.
Ayo Edibiri and Rachel Sennott are the leads, and they are perfect. Sennott is the more outgoing, funny and talkative one. But, she will never be confused as a "cool" kid. Edebiri is more soft spoken. She doesn't want any trouble. She just wants to get to college. These two are sensational. When they finally get alone with their crushes, I was stoked, and then devastated for Sennott's character. These two used to be college roommates, and you can tell from their electric chemistry on screen. Sennott really keeps your attention when she talks. And the moments where Edibiri gives a speech, or does a monologue, are pretty powerful. They filled the cast with other actors that I don't really know. The crushes are played by Havana Rose Liu, this is the first thing I've seen her in, and Kaia Gerber, Cindy Crawford's daughter. They were excellent. Ruby Cruz is the one who kind of gets the whole fight club going. She was funny and had a solid arc. Punkie Johnson plays Edibiri's wild aunt who lives in a trailer. Zamani Wilder, Summer Joy Campbell and Virginia Tucker are members of the fight club, and all three bring some hilarious traits. The football players, namely Nicholas Galitzine and Miles Fowler, are wonderfully goofy. The whole stuff with the QB, Jeff, is riotous. And then we have Marshawn Lynch. What a star-making performance from him. He is hilarious, he pretty much improvised all of his lines, he took this role to make up for the way he reacted to his sister coming out, and he absolutely crushed. They took a chance and they were paid off tremendously by his performance. All of the actors did a wonderful job.
What most impressed me was the writing. This is an absurd movie, but it is absurd in all the best ways. The spoof of the football team's importance landed perfectly. The way teachers and administrators behave was tremendously done. How the main characters arc from nerdom to popularity and back to nerdom paid off. I was overly impressed with how well thought out and how simply insane the movie came across on screen. We need more comedies like this.
"Bottoms" is just as good as "Booksmart" and "Superbad". I actually think I may like it a bit more because of the presence of Ayo Edibiri and how ridiculous it is supposed to be. I definitely recommend watching this movie. It is very funny and very good.
Ty
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.
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