Review of Booksmart (2019) by Brent_Marchant — 30 May 2020

It took me a while to get around to watching this smartly written take-off on cheesy high school comedies (mainly because of a trailer that didn't do it justice), but actress Olivia Wilde's feature film debut as a director knocks it out of the park.

With unexpected story elements reminiscent of buddy cop films and outrageous road trip tales, this incisively scripted, creatively shot, superbly designed Independent Spirit Award winner for best first feature defies all of the cliches of the teenage comedy genre while simultaneously skewering the inane offerings that have come typify such pictures, all without becoming mean, gross, stereotypical or stupid.

The impeccably assembled ensemble, led by Kaitlyn Dever and Golden Globe nominee Beanie Feldstein, works together like a well-oiled machine, firing on all cylinders and delivering authentic performances without becoming trite, overly cynical or amateurish.

The rapid-fire humor, reminiscent of screwball comedies, will keep viewers in stitches throughout, even in some inventive fantasy sequences that integrate perfectly into the main narrative without becoming clumsy, inappropriate or out of place.

I truly can't say enough good things about this one, but I would recommend going directly to the film itself and skipping the preview that vastly undersold it.