Booksmart

I loved, loved, loved this film! Booksmart is this generations American Graffiti, Clueless, or The Breakfast Club. It perfectly captures the wackiness, the earnest, and the confusion of the last days of high school in a fresh and funny manner. Beanie Feldstein as Molly and Kaitlyn Dever as Amy have a flawless chemistry as two overachievers who gave up all fun in the pursuit of their dreams. On the last day of school, they learn the “fun” kids got into top colleges too and they set out to whoop it up as an overcorrection to their studiousness, to hilarious results. Feldstein is getting more press, but her character would have seemed overblown without Dever’s nuanced straight-man responses. Dever deserves more credit for turning in an honest performance as an out lesbian coming to terms with her sexuality. The writing neither tips into the unfortunate gross-out tricks of recent teen coming-of-age films, nor does it become histrionic in its introspection. Olivia Wilde shows a deftness in her directorial debut that one hopes isn’t beginner’s luck, as Booksmart is a fast, fun, funny film with real heart that should remind anyone of that special time in their lives when they had that one friendship that they thought would last forever. It may not have, but Booksmart will give anyone a joyous two hours to reminisce.