Book Smart

Taking a break from dramas, I got around to finally watching Book Smart. A fast paced coming-of-age comedy that I have been meaning to watch for some time.   

To start with performances, I really liked both Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever in their respective roles, they both share a good chemistry that really makes you feel invested in their friendship. They both possess a good blend of good comedic skill with the delivery of their lines, whilst also having an authenticity in their performances that I think really captures what it’s like being a high schooler, navigating Insecurity and self-discovery. This is a really important impression to make, and the film wouldn’t have worked as well had this casting not been nailed.

For what was at the time a directional debut, Olivia Wild does what I think is a fantastic job in executing a type of comedy that we don’t really see all that much of these days. There is something familiar yet also fresh in her interpretation of the coming-of-age teen comedy. Mainly, It’s cool to see a storyline more focused around 2 main female leads, which for the genre is definitely underrepresented. The film focuses on high schooler’s born in the early 2000’s so it has more of a Gen-Z appeal, that I feel like a modern audience can defiantly relate too. Through all of this change, I believe the film still delivers on the comedic side of things, with some well written jokes and funny improvised moments. In totality, it’s a strong directorial debut, despite recent questions marks around Wilde, this project is evidence that she clearly possess talent.

I wanted to have an entire separate section just to speak on the screenplay. The work done by Emily Hapern, Sarah Haskins, Susanna Fogel and Katie Silberman is from a foundational standpoint some of the best writing I’ve seen for a coming-of-age story. That might sound like quite the bold statement but honestly, hear me out. I think the core attributes of what the plot centers around is incredibly captivating. The narrative itself is extremely well contrived; it’s a very clear premise that I think has a lot of potential. Whilst the nature of the plot unfolds in a rather farcical comedic way, we follow a story that hinges on self-doubt and is led by the desire of personal discovery. The film poses an interesting question to both our leads and to the audience. If given the opportunity, would we go back and do things differently? would we discover a version of ourselves that we like more? Or would we be vindicated by the path in which we have taken? In some capacity I think this is a question that in some form or another we have all asked ourselves, which is what makes this film such an intriguing watch. There’s a compelling question and by the end of the story we should get our answer, and there are so many different directions where this sort of narrative could be taken. I watched the trailer for this film and I was completely hooked, and it wasn’t because of a snip it of a particular actor’s performance, it wasn’t because of the jokes, or the cinematography, it was down to an immaculately conceived premise. I think that is one of the best compliments that I can give to the writers and they deserve all the praise for it.

I guess this kind of segues to some of my critiques. As strong as the bases for the story is, I feel like the execution at some points can be lacking in some areas. I wasn’t a fan of the somewhat sudden introduction of the romance interest for Mollie, it comes completely out of nowhere and ends up being a pretty significant part of the story. It acts as the catalyst for the conflict in the film between Molly and Amy, whilst the ensuing argument goes deeper than just the love interests, it certainly gets initiated as a result of them. With this being such a key moment in the film, I certainly feel like an opportunity was missed here to have a more interesting way to present a rift between both Molly and Amy. I wish the writers would have committed more to Amy and Molly having a larger disparity with how they view the situation they are in. Having Amy perhaps decide that she does not need to go to the party, because she has no regrets about the decisions she has made, with direct contrast to Molly who is maybe more obsessed with the need of finding out. In my opinion this would create a stronger bases for a deeper conflict that would end up feeling more impactful instead of the version that we got, where it feels like Amy is perhaps a little bit too indifferent. Yes I know that’s kind of a part of her character to be “indifferent” but I think you could still change this part of her character and stay faithful to what I feel her like her story arc is, and that is to grow in confidence and learn to stand up for herself. Amy saying no to Molly and perhaps refusing to go to the party, is her standing up for herself. I actually quiet like the argument that they end up having in the 3rd act, I just feel If you change the opening context behind what started that that argument, it could have been a more powerful moment. I digress; this is just an example of what I feel would have worked better. My main point is you have these two really interesting female characters, a strong fundamental story line and to me it feels like for some reason we resort to a lazily implemented romance to progress the plot in such a pivotal scene.

To conclude, I still think that Olivia Wilde clearly has done her homework when making this film, she understands the source material from what past coming of age teen comedies have done well from hits such as Superbad, whilst also bringing a fresh new edge. There is a common perception that these types of comedies are simply things from the past, to be confined to what was early 2000’s film culture. Wilde proves them wrong, and I hope that her latest project ‘The Invite’ proves to be a good return to form. Overall, I’d say this film is a pretty fun casual watch, with a good amount of substance to it, so if you happen not to know what to watch on a random night whilst scrolling Netflix, then give this a chance.