Booksmart

Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut, Booksmart follows best friends Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) and Molly (Beanie Feldstein) as they decide to cut loose and have fun on their very last day of high school – with the movie detailing the affable pair’s various exploits as they make their way from party to party. Filmmaker Wilde, working from a script by Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, Susanna Fogel, and Katie Silberman, delivers an exceedingly appealing opening stretch that’s heightened by impressively captivating visuals and a series of irresistible performances, with, in terms of the latter, Dever and Feldstein’s almost astonishingly relaxed and flat-out captivating work mirrored by a strong supporting cast that includes Jason Sudeikis, Will Forte, and Jessica Williams. It’s equally clear, however, that Booksmart does segue into a somewhat hit-and-miss midsection, as certain second-act sequences have been infused with far too broad a brush to wholeheartedly make a positive impact (eg Amy and Molly’s visit to an empty yacht party, the pair’s ongoing encounters with a distractingly loopy fellow student, etc) – with the movie eventually recovering thanks to a final stretch, triggered by an electrifying house-party-set squabble, that’s far more emotional and engrossing than one might’ve initially anticipated. The end result is an erratic yet ultimately rewarding endeavor that bodes well for Wilde’s behind-the-camera work, and it doesn’t seem entirely outside the realm of possibility that Booksmart is destined to join the pantheon of indelible high school pictures.

*** out of ****

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