Booksmart a ripping coming-of-age comedy that will go down as one of the best of 2019

Booksmart is something new — a female-driven coming-of-age comedy crammed to the hilt with highly quotable dialogue, irresistible breakout performances, and inspired direction.

Pull apart the pages of the Booksmart screenplay, and you will soon see how much of it is comprised of something old, something borrowed and something blue.

The old? That would be the now-ancient premise of two teenage best friends embarking on the biggest night of their lives while enduring one small-scale disaster after another.

The borrowed? Remember the 2007 get-them-to-the-party-on-time classic Superbad? Booksmart sticks to the same storytelling template, a shrewd shortcut to keep both racing the clock and raising the stakes.

Booksmart is Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut. Picture: Annapurna Pictures

What about the blue? Booksmart revels in a sense of humour that is undeniably daring — and yes, sometimes even dirty — and almost always, dynamically funny.

Put all of the above together, and Booksmart definitely amounts to something new: a female-driven coming-of-age comedy crammed to the hilt with highly quotable dialogue, irresistible breakout performances, and inspired direction throughout.

The two BFFs at the centre of Booksmart have just reached the second-last day of high school, and are about to be crushed by a heavy epiphany.

Molly (Beanie Feldstein) and Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) thought they were superior beings to their classmates, having done nothing but study for the past four years.

While their peers smoked dope, rode skateboards and posted on social media, Molly and Amy dutifully stayed put and did their homework.

Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever star in the film. Picture: Annapurna Pictures

While they have now both been accepted into prestigious colleges, so too have a majority of their fellow students. Molly and Amy thought they had a head start on everybody.

Instead, they merely deprived themselves of four years of fun.

So now, with one night left to graduation, these two very sheltered young ladies are on a mission to come out of their shells, and catch up on everything they have missed out on.

All they have to do is work out where the big party is that everyone else is going to.

While its general synopsis looks very familiar on paper, its expansion and execution on screen is something truly out of the ordinary.

All characters both major and minor (this is a superbly cast picture) have a way of delivering and exchanging lines that are precisely tuned to the same comedic wavelength.

Booksmart is superbly cast across the board. Picture: Annapurna Pictures

This is a rare commodity in any movie, let alone one largely staffed by complete unknowns.

Much of the kudos for the genuine wit, sly creativity and unbridled vitality pulsing from every scene must go to first-time director Olivia Wilde.

Though best known as an actor (she was Quorra in TRON: Legacy), her future as a star filmmaker looks assured if Booksmart is any indication.

BOOKSMART (MA15+)

Rating: Four and a half stars (4.5 out of 5)

Director: Olivia Wilde (feature debut)

Starring: Kaitlyn Dever, Beanie Feldstein, Jessica Williams, Skyler Gisondo.

Racing to rewrite the whole story before the final chapter ends

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