Booksmart (2019)

It is the last day of school, and seniors Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) and Molly (Beanie Feldstein) couldn't be happier with their upcoming futures. Amy is planning to spend her summer in Botswana doing mission work (of sorts) before going to Stanford and valedictorian Molly is counting down the days until she starts at Yale in the fall. Both of them feel proud of themselves for keeping their focus on their studies all the way through high school, not allowing anything else to take their focus away from their goals.

All the seniors have been invited to jock Nick's (Mason Gooding) aunt's house for a massive house party to mark the end of their school year, with graduation happening the following day. At first, Molly and Amy couldn't be less interested in attending this party, after all, it's things like this that they have spent the last four years avoiding, preferring to concentrate on their studies.

But when Molly finds out that all the other seniors - most of whom wasted their time - are all going to good colleges too, she realises that they could have had fun and studied at the same time. She tells Amy that this is their one last chance to actually have fun while still at school, that maybe all that studying (to the detriment of everything else) wasn't the best plan.

Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) and Molly (Beanie Feldstein).

Besides, the party will give Amy a chance to finally get some quality time with her crush, Ryan (Victoria Ruesga), the girl she has had feelings for for years, but never had the courage to approach, too scared that she doesn't feel the same way.

And so, they lie to Amy's parents (Will Forte and Lisa Kudrow), and sneak out to try and find Nick's party. The only problem is, since no one ever thought Amy and Molly would be interested in a party, they have no idea where it's being held.

And so, they go from one misadventure to another, trying to find this Holy Grail of house parties. Their trek takes them to two other parties along the way, where their experiences are certainly less than ideal. I'd better not go into any more detail, in case you want to watch and enjoy this film for yourself.

Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) and slightly crazy classmate Gigi (Billie Lourd).

The screenplay, written by Emily Halpern & Sarah Haskins and Susanna Fogel and Katie Silberman, is reasonably clever, with plenty of contrasting characters providing endless opportunities for comedy. I actually enjoyed the comedy in the script a lot more than the rest of the audience with whom I watched the film; most of them didn't seem to know whether to laugh or not, whereas I found it incredibly funny from start to finish. There were several clever 'callbacks' by the end of the film, with clues and little gems planted earlier in the script, making the film's eventual conclusion all the better.

The score/soundtrack to the film, written and performed by Dan Nakamura - otherwise known as Dan the Automator - is incredibly good, with a huge number of original tracks created specifically for the film, meaning that the lyrics fit and apply to the story a lot better than one might find in other films. There is not a lot of scoring in the film, the composer preferring to use original tracks, which certainly makes the film stand out in quite a unique way. It was only once the film was over that it occurred to me that I hadn't heard a lot of underscoring, so it wasn't a distraction by any means.

Jason McCormick's cinematography is also good, with a significant amount of the film taking place outside at night, which is one of the more difficult environments in which to film. There is some beautifully shot underwater photography as well - I won't spoil it by saying where and when and why - and other unique approaches. One of my favourites I would like to mention was a single shot about twenty minutes before the end of the film, with the camera remaining largely stationary. The shot lasted a lot longer than one might expect, and this only served to highlight the quality of the actors' performances in that moment.

Hope (Diana Silvers).

Speaking of performances, both Dever and Feldstein are fabulous in their respective roles. Yes, we've seen both of them on screen before, but never quite like this; the two of them have really stepped up to the challenge, and met it well. Dever in particular displays a real strength to her character, and an ability to walk the delicate balance between comedy and drama with exceptional skill.

There is also a great performance by Jason Sudeikis as the school principal, so keep your eyes open for that. There are many great performances in this film, certainly more than one might expect in a film of this genre. The film - while predominantly being a comedy - has more than its fair share of drama and pathos as well.

Director Olivia Wilde has managed to walk that delicate balance as well, and created a truly unique film here, one that I would certainly be happy to watch again. If you miss your chance to see it on the big screen, definitely check it out on DVD when it comes out; it is well worth either the ticket price or purchase price.

8 out of 10.