Review of Booksmart (2019) by Flipje — 26 Feb 2020

This is truly an awful film. I can only imagine the writers concocting this story with one message in mind: make these characters quirky and also one dimensional. 'Quirky' is all they have going for them which makes them boring.

Sure, there are messages of female empowerment yet it does nothing to propel a meaningful story. Tell a story. Come on. Here, each character broadcasts an over the top persona that is difficult to relate to.

Initially, I liked that the one girl had a crush on a skater girl. Yet, we know nothing about her within the first forty minutes of the film. All we know of these highly educated outsiders is they are outsiders.

That's it. Each scene only fosters a certain stereotype that is exagerated to the point of dullness. Slut girl acts like a slut. Dumb guy acts dumb. Rich kid acts rich. And the two friends are just two friends who find out the people they looked down on are actually goinst to prestigious schools.

Wow, twist... So what is their motivation? To party. That's it? That's it. The whole wants vs. needs of screenplay writing 101 does not even happen here. They want to prove to people they don't care about that they can party as well.

I mean, if the beginning of the film sets these two up as individuals who could care less about what others think of them, why would this matter? Their only character trait is they are indifferent to the opinions of others.

And that is shattered because the movie needs to happen. These are screenplay ideas running around as supposed characters and nothing else. And on their journey they meet other purposelessy strange characters.

There have been wonderful female friendship films with fleshed-out, wonderful and quirky characters. Think Romy and Michele's High School Reunion. If you want female empowerment and self-awareness, look no further than the seminal Thelma and Louise.

I have loved three seasons of Glow on Netflix mainly because the writers care to build on the dynamics and relationship of the characters. But I could not make it through this forced and over the top film.

I didn't laugh. I rolled my eyes as it felt like this film had the concept of something interesting and fun without actually following through on it.