Booksmart: a review by Gordon Stamper, Jr.

The slob comedy and teen sex romps are not original concepts. Carpe diem tales date back to the Middle Ages in the English language. But a teen sex slob comedy with two female honor roll students as protagonists--the original twists begin. If you like to laugh and aren't easily offended, Booksmart is a great investment of your time.

Amy (Kaitlyn Dever, yes, from Last Man Standing) and Molly (Beanie Feldstein, Jonah Hill's sister!) are ready to graduate and attend their awesome colleges of Columbia and Yale, respectively. However, on their final day of high school, class president Molly finds out in various traumatic ways that some of the biggest party people in school are going to desirable destination universities themselves. While Amy is perfectly satisfied to eat cake and watch a movie marathon on the night before graduation, Molly hastily comes up with a party game plan. Find out where the big blowout is that popular jock and class vice president Nick (Mason Gooding, Cuba's son) is hosting. And be the craziest party people there.

Of course, the road to the party is winding and full of peril, which includes the crazy and seemingly omnipresent Gigi (Billi Lourd, Carrie Fisher's daughter--see a casting trend?) who seems to be a lot of fun and trouble; her attention-starved brother Jared (Skyler Gilondo) who has a major crush on Molly; and the school principal (Jason Sedekis) who provides one of the classic embarrassing moments in the film. Later in the plot, the main characters' serious epiphanies about each other are worthy of good John Hughes outings.

Director Olivia Wilde (hi, Thirteen from House) has a strong debut with great timing and original angles to flesh out a hilarious script from a staff of writers (Susanna Fogel, Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, and Katie Silberman). Dever and Feldstein portray their characters with the right balance of intelligence, street naivete, and sisterly love for one another--although Dever's gay character Amy gets mileage from the wrong impression her parents (Will Forte and Lisa Kudrow) get about their daughter's relationship with Molly. 

Yes, it has the requisite crude humor and irresponsible behavior. But the flashes of commentary on social classes, the teaching profession, and the original protagonists executing the classic tropes put creative spins on what could have been an overly familiar story. For any comedy fan with a tolerance for profanity, Booksmart is worth seeking out.

Rating: ***1/2 out of ****.

Annapurna Pictures presents Booksmart. Directed by Olivia Wilde. Written by Susanna Fogel, Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, and Katie Silberman. Starring Kaitlyn Dever, Beanie Feldman, Mason Gooding, Jason Sedekis, Billi Lourd, Skyler Gilondo, and Jessica Williams. 102 minutes. Rated "R" for crude humor, profanity, sexual situations, and drug use.