Film Review: Booksmart

"Amy, We Only Have One Night Left To Have Studied And Partied In High School. Otherwise, We’re Just Going To Be The Girls That Missed Out..."

Acting as the hundred and eighty first coming of age movie this year alone, give or take a couple of exaggerated additions, Booksmart acts as the directorial debut of the wonderfully talented Olivia Wilde, who follows in the footsteps of the equally brilliant Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird) by making the tricky transition from in front of the camera to behind it with enormous success. With Gerwig basing the screenplay for her own coming of age story on her personal experiences growing up in 1990's Sacramento, the template for Booksmart from writing duo, Emily Halpern and Sarah Haskins, appeared on the infamous "Black List" of unproduced screenplays for a number of years before being picked up by Wilde and her production company, and in the transition from paper to screen, Wilde's debut sees Kaitlyn Dever (Beautiful Boy) and Beanie Feldstein (Lady Bird) play best of friends, Amy and Molly, as they hit the eve of their high school graduation and become ready for their next step into adult life. With both believing their hard work and grades have been the result of a complete absence of any form of debauchery during their school life, they soon find out that even the hardest of party animals have likewise secured an impressive future, resulting in both utilising the last night of high school to engage in as much carnage and outrageousness as humanly possible. 

With the set up rather familiar, taking nods from the classic coming of age tales of old, particularly George Lucas' American Graffiti and Richard Linklater's stoner comedy, Dazed and Confused, Wilde's movie moves like a steam train as it skips from the inner workings of American school life to the party-centric madness of primarily the wealthiest one percent, with gigantic yachts and mansion sized family homes acting as the basis for debaucherous set piece after debaucherous set piece. With the central characters more likeable then one would have thought after the film's rather irritating trailer, Booksmart doesn't solely aim for the outrageous, with a generous amount of characterisation and interesting narrative arcs allowing the final payoff to be more than rewarding, one which comes together with a familiar sentiment that all good coming of age movies do, whether it be the riotous declaration of friendship from The Breakfast Club or the beginning of a new chapter in Everybody Wants Some!!, Wilde's movie nicely fits the mould of what should be expected from such a genre movie. With a few scenes which do unfortunately test the patience, particularly an animated, drug-fuelled nightmare come the halfway mark which doesn't work at all, Booksmart is still an engaging, ludicrous and highly enjoyable cinematic debut from yet another filmmaker whose switch to behind the camera has paid off in spades.   

Overall Score: 7/10

Rush 2013 - REVIEW - SPOILERS

For those of you who are debating this movie - racing fan or not, I highly recommend this movie. The story of James Hunt & Niki Lauda's rivalry is a powerful one. A duo who bite at each other, attack and fight in the worlds most dangerous sport - F1 (Yet they do meet in the original F3 class which ignites this feud), especially until recent decades that have incorporated many safety precautions. In a form which can only be described as a documentary/biopic, this film follows the world of motor sport and the friction is caused between champions. As a true story, you can expect a few things to be exaggerated but overall, I feel they played it well with their individual stories. Nothing was over the top and it was done with respect. For a motor sport movie, the story is one of the best to follow due to the complexity of it. Two similar men with the drive to succeed pushing their boundaries and giving one hell of a show for the public and media alike. Complex figures in a complex sport. As a selection, the story is perfect. It's exciting, dramatic and poetic wrapped in a raw and passionate love of Formula 1 with bitter tragedy and undeniable respect.


For a sport that moves at 180mph, with cameras that were very basic, you couldn't capture life in the cockpit of these rockets. Ron Howard has giving us this unique view point through a barrage of stunning shots, angles and cinematography. Race scenes are vivid with light and colour, and with enough shake and blur to position the viewer on the nose cone of the car. A particular favourite of mine was the scenes shot inside of the helmets. The small scene is quick, yet elegant. Filming from the top corner of the visor, it's giving you a view of the racers eyes as they flick rapidly back and forth with the rush of colour outside. The shot is something the really resonates and conveys the emotion beautifully, even off the race track.

Take the time to go to a cinema that is strong in all the categories - A dedication to movies, a screen which is crystal clear and a sound system that thumps you right in the chest. Making this executive decision will increase the enjoyability of this movie. Sound is crucial for this film, a score composed by the one and only Hans Zimmer and a soundtrack laid by 3litre V8 engines. The spark of the engine is so powerful, it smacks you hard but it's so damn satisfying. Blended with Hans Zimmer's impeccable score, adrenaline begins pumping and becomes increasingly exciting. Zimmer has the incredible ability to maintain his trademark style but vary each piece perfectly to the desired movie.

Casting for a movie of this degree needs to be spot on, fortunately Ron Howard was. Mixing big names like Chris Hemsworth (James Hunt) and Olivia Wilde (Suzy Miller), alongside a few other notable faces and some small actors/actresses is always a difficult thing to do. Getting that balance is crucial when you want them to play their character perfectly. Actors may not have the ability to pull off certain accents from different areas of Britain and those with more experience, far out way the smaller actors. To anyone else, the British accent would probably stand out to them but as a Brit, I notice really bad British accents and I didn't actually pick up on any accent issues. All of the actors played their roles perfectly and I thoroughly enjoyed Daniel Bruhl as Niki Lauda. His performance was brilliant and did raise moments where he showed the tremendous courage Niki had during the vacuuming of his lungs. He showed the brilliant mind, the amazing racer and slowly transitioned into the man with something to lose. Gaining fear but playing it logical. Do be aware though, Olivia Wilde only pops up for 4 or so scenes where she does very little within the plot but the trailer does make it out that she is far more involved.

So the round up the movie, I would say that it is up there with some of this years greatest movies, with possible Oscars and other awards on their way. The movie can be watched by anyone but they have to be literate. It's educated and doesn't focus on the mindless action but it does include some fairly disturbing scenes from Niki's hospital stay and a crash during a race which ripped the head off of a racer. A movie like this needs to be seen by people who can appreciate it for everything that has gone into it and not expect Fast & Furious to break out. For an incredible movie, I'm giving it a 9/10.