Tanya’s Score: Great*
Rated: 14A
Starring: an FX vampire, a daughter named Escapade, Cuba’s son and a bunch of SNL alumni
Plot: Two teenagers and best friends (Beanie Feldstein; Kaitlyn Dever) about to graduate from high school realize they should have better balanced having fun with studying hard and set about to rectify this in one night.
Tanya’s Verdict: This movie is great. It’s girl power to the nth degree (both leads are female – and relatively unknown and the director is Olivia Wilde), it’s unpredictably entertaining – and best of all – it’s hilarious.
Booksmart reminded me of a cheeky combo of Ghost World (2001) and Super Bad (2007) – two funny movies in their own right. There are no cheap or easy laughs in this one. The humour is well-done and hard-earned. The story goes beyond stereotypes and even attempts to bring in as much character depth as possible considering the cast is comprised of an ensemble of high school students.
Of course it’s still teen reality exaggerated for comic flair – but it works. Funny and thought-provoking – wrapped up in a raunchy sex comedy – my type of movie!
*Four score descriptions: Sh**; Okay; Good; Great