Get Smart

Booksmart (2019) was so much fun. I saw it described as Superbad with girls, but smarter. I've actually never seen Superbad, but I believe it.

It stars Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever as two high school seniors on the last day of school. They are sort of the class nerds. Feldstein is class president, a strident feminist who plans to go to Georgetown after she graduates from Yale. Dever is a an out lesbian, who is volunteering in Botswana over the summer. They have a joyous friendship, goofing around and acting shocked at how awesome the other one is. But at school, they stick to themselves, eating lunch alone together, or bugging the principal about student council duties.

Then, in the bathroom, Feldstein overhears some of her classmates talking about her and what a drag she is. She confronts them, saying that while they were partying, she was studying, and now she's going to Yale. It turns out that they all have pretty good plans - Stanford, Yale also, and the stoner kid isn't going to college because he has an offer at Google. Feldstein realizes that avoiding socializing and parties have all been for naught, and vows to change her ways. She will go to a senior party.

She convinces Dever to go to one of the popular kids' party, because the girl who Dever has a crush on will be there. She doesn't admit that she has a crush on the guy who's throwing the party. The only problem - they don't know where the party is.

I'm sure this is the plot of a dozen movies (Superbad?), but it's the way they pull it off. First, they get taken to the rich kid's party on a yacht - and are the only ones who show up, except his druggie girlfriend. These are both pretty stock characters, but with some real definition - especially Billie Lourde, the girlfriend.

Then they wind up at the drama kids' party - a formal murder mystery party with a sit down dinner. This is not their scene, but it gets worse when the hallucinogen that Lourde dosed them with kicks in. They hallucinate that they have turned into Barbie dolls.

And so on. A couple of things I liked: Although Feldstein is a bit stocky, with a kind of bulldog face, nobody mentions this - they just trash her personality. Nobody slams Dever for being gay, just for being killjoy. Also, these kids are known by their peers. They aren't anonymous nobodies. And their peers include semi-outcasts like the rich kid, the druggie and the flamboyant drama kids. When I was in high school, I was kind of an outcast nerd, but I realized years later that I was actually pretty well known. Maybe not popular or respected, but not just an extra in a busy school corridor. Also, even the party kids are getting into good schools - I wasn't exactly a party kid, probably more of a burnout, and I got into a good school. So, maybe this is a 1% problems movie, but I relate.

But in addition to a tried-and-true plot and some interesting social observation, it's just really fun. The girls have a deep friendship and are articulate and fun, even if they are also shy and socially backwards. And although everything does NOT work out, they do go to a party, take drugs, and make out with someone (even if it wasn't what they planned). I love happy endings.