Better Late than Never on "Booksmart"

Continuing with movies I wanted to see, and didn't have the time or will to go see them in the theater, my wife and I sat down on Saturday night, our self isolation/quarantine date night now, and we watched "Booksmart".

I had heard a ton, a ton of good things about the movie. People I read, and who's opinions I trust, said glowing things about the movie. And I wanted to go out and see it in the theaters. But, for whatever reason, or reasons, we just couldn't find the time. I had forgotten about the movie, but I just recently finished "Movies (And Other Things)", and there is a tremendous chapter about the greatness of this movie. This reinvigorated my interest. We were then looking for a movie to watch, and I saw it on Hulu.

We watched it, and man, this movie was more than worth the hype. It not only lived up to it, for me, it surpassed it. I know a lot of people have compared it to "Superbad", and that is fair, but "Booksmart" is a movie all on its own. It has its own story and characters and direction and the way everything unfolds. While it shares a similar plot to "Superbad", two high school seniors trying to party before graduation, "Booksmart" stands apart.

First off, the two leads, Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever, have an tremendous chemistry. Jonah Hill, who is Feldstein's brother by the way, and Michael Cera had great chemistry, but not like these two. The way they interacted with one another was perfection. My wife and I both loved the scenes where they talked each other up after they got dressed to go to the party. Those two scenes were perfection. The way they went on, and the fact that Olivia Wilde just let them go on, was great. They would constantly compliment one another until it was almost too much. But, it never got to the feeling of too much. It was just right. Also, I truly believed that these two were best friends. I read somewhere that they roomed together for ten weeks or something, and that helped build a bond that totally shows up on screen. All the stuff, the dancing, the stresses to getting to the party, the ridiculous stuff that kids have to deal with in high school, the crushes, even the way they left, it all felt so real. I thought back to when I was in high school, and their relationship reminded me of some I had in high school with some of my closest friends. But, they seemed closer. Feldstein was dynamite in this movie too. She was the overachieving, laser focused, top student in school. But, she was also hilarious, took no shit and held her own. Dever played her best friend who is all about protesting, human rights, equality for all, but is also very, very scared to take any real big chances. For example, she has to be pushed to hit on the girl she has a crush on. She is terrified to do it, and when pushed, she finally does, but it does not go well. But, Feldstein does push a little too much, and when she goes past the limit, they have a humongous fight, and I loved the way this scene was shot. They start to argue, we hear them at first, but then it goes silent. They are still arguing, but Wilde pans the room, and all the kids are watching, with their phones on and recording, and you can tell it is over when Feldstein finally mouths, "F You". It was awesome, and kind of powerful in its own way.

Feldstein and Dever clearly make the movie, but everyone else in it was great. Will Forte and Lisa Kudrow as Dever's folks, they were wonderful. So polite and giving and supportive. Skyler Gisondo, as one of their classmates, was sweet and unassuming and dorky in his own way, but thought he was cool. That kid is about to blow up. Billie Lourd was hilarious, and one of the true standouts of the movie. She just showed up everywhere, gave the girls drugs without their knowledge, seemed to have a screw loose, but was just outstanding. She stole the scenes she was in. The rest of the high school kids were perfectly cast. It all worked. As far as the faculty, they focused on two people, the principal, played by Jason Sudeikis, and a teacher, played by Jessica Williams, and they ruled. Sudeikis clearly hated his job, and had a second job as a Lyft driver, which resulted in a fantastically hilarious scene. Williams was the teacher that the two girls loved, and she totally pulled off the cool teacher vibes. She was great. Even someone like Mike O'Brien, in a very small role, was memorable, especially near the end. But when it comes down to it, Feldstein and Dever totally owned this movie. They were so fantastic. I cannot get over how funny and how real everything they did felt.

This is a movie I should have seen much, much sooner. But, I am glad that I have watched it, and now I can sing its praises. Check out "Booksmart". It is one of the better comedies to come out in a long, long time.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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