Let me make my first New Years resolution for 2020. It's to make sure and see everything that incredibly funny actress Beanie Feldstein does for the next decade.
She's fall-over-funny perfect in BOOKSMART, one of the best comedies of recent years. Critics loved it but audiences pretty much ignored the film when it hit theatres early this summer.
If you like your comedies "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" and "Animal House" raw, adult and funny, you're going to love this comedy. It's all those things, but shoved forcefully through a strainer of today's high school students and sensibilities.
Feldstein is hilarious as Molly, Class President and social pariah, completely focused on checking every box for college admissions while ignoring any kind of social life.
Her best friend Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) is equally committed and always at Molly's side.
The class surrounding them is loaded with all the groups we've known for years, but amped up to self involved hilarity that can only be achieved by today's social media teens.
Lisa Kudrow and Will Forte are awkward perfection as Kaitlyn's parents and Jason Sudekis delivers laughs as a principal whose passion for the job has long left the campus.
When Molly and Kaitlyn realize that all the students around them had fun for four years and are also attending great colleges next year, they commit to one massive night of partying on the eve of graduation.
What ensues isn't a stupid "Porky's" night of adventures, but a laugh-out-loud night of discovery, surprises and some terrific dramatic moments in the mix as well that sneak up on you.
The songs throughout are perfectly tuned to the eclectic cast of characters.
Dever and Feldstein have fantastic timing from the very first scene. Awkward has never been so funny.
Actress Olivia Wilde directs her first film here and kills it with on-point timing and a tough to achieve balance in storytelling.
I kept hearing how great this movie was but ignored it like the rest of the country.
BOOKSMART deserved better. I bet its a hidden gem that will only gain in popularity in the years ahead.
FELDSTEIN gets and A+ and the movie gets an A for adult laughs and smart writing that deserve to stand aside "Fast Times" and "The Breakfast Club" as a classic coming of age comedy.
