BOOKSMART

Beanie Feldstein     Kaitlin Dever     Billie Lourde     Jessica Williams

Lisa Kudrow     Will Forte     Jason Sudeikis

     Take a peek at the generation coming up, just graduating from high school and finally developing perspective on where they’ve been and where they’re going.  Booksmart is something of a nerdy girl’s dream; one who is smart in book learning, but panicked to realize the night before high school graduation that she hasn’t lived.  She’s developed a slightly condescending attitude toward her classmates through the years, not realizing that some of them have been achieving just as much (i.e., headed for Harvard, Yale, etc.), but have been having fun and developing relationships all along.  She wants to salvage her life and is determined, even if she has only one night to do it. 

     The movie is meant to be a lighthearted window into the current younger generation (those of means, at least) with lifestyles that are self-indulgent, but not heartless.  Although there are scenes where the two main figures—the “nerds”—are characterized in unkind stereotypical ways, minds are changed when the girls loosen up and begin to mix with their classmates on a more even footing.  Some of this might be a little “pie-in-the sky” wishful thinking (most people with deep-seated impressions are not ordinarily so forgiving of those who are “different”), but it’s a good model for younger audiences to see how people can come together in permissive circumstances.

     Beanie Feldstein as Molly and Kaitlin Dever as Amy hold their own as starring characters who are confronted with a whole new world right in their hometown before they take off for Botswana or wherever—parts unknown.  They show the girls sparring, arguing, and coalescing, solidifying a friendship that will last forever.  Feldstein in particular sensitively conveys subtle changes in her character that develop as she gains insight.

     New director/accomplished actress Olivia Wilde is backed up by an all-female writing team (Susanna Fogel, Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, Katie Silberman) in portraying diversity in an appealing light.  Tolerance is paramount here in going against your usual prejudices about intelligence, gender, and race—um…maybe not so much, class.  But there is a forgiving attitude throughout—especially with the hilarious Lisa Kudrow and Will Forte as Amy’s parents, but also other characters who change and forgive as they get more information. (Have you ever forgiven someone who vomited on you?)

     Music by Dan Nakamura and cinematography by Jason McCormick do their job of integrating elements of the film together into a meaningful whole.

A great date night movie for the young at heart—with substance.

Grade:  B                                   By Donna R. Copeland

MOTHER'S DAY

Julia Roberts   Kate Hudson   Jennifer Anniston   Jason Sudeikis   Timothy Olyphant   

Britt Robertson   Margo Martindale   Aasif Mandvi

          Mother’s Day is for people who like sitcoms, and this will be a treat for them because it extends for two hours.  Sitcoms are noted for their canned laughter tracks, but this film has a script that is canned.  Pick any incident/joke/situation in sitcoms, and it is plugged in here somewhere, pulling your heartstrings one moment, making you laugh at another, pulling for worries and tears at still another, and on and on.  When a character goes to a vending machine for candy, it reminded me of how the filmmakers seemed to have gone to a machine for script scenes and pushed just about every button.

       We see a newly divorced couple where the ex-husband has taken a younger, more attractive wife, a successful career woman who has yet to experience the ultimate satisfaction of motherhood (but at least she’s not the stereotypical b----), a mixed race marriage, an adopted child as an adult looking for her mother (she can’t commit to a relationship until she finds her), and a Lesbian couple.  They all run into the usual problems—clearly of their own making—develop insight, make discoveries, and all of it is wrapped up into a tidy bow at the end. 

      On the more positive side, the actors’ skills in their art/craft are readily apparent.  Foremost is Julia Roberts (Miranda) as the charming, attractive product pusher on television.  She is Pretty Woman become wiser and more sophisticated.  (As an aside, Garry Marshall directed that and this picture.)  Britt Robertson (Kristin) is captivating in her portrayal of complex emotions and ambivalence.  Jason Sudeikis (Bradley) and Timothy Olyphant (Henry) are convincing as men at sea, feeling out of control in life.  Jennifer Anniston (Sandy) and Kate Hudson (Jesse) have been well schooled to expertise in their roles.  Margo Martindale (Flo) always meshes hand-in-glove with mothers of a certain type (although she is not by any means restricted in her range, e.g., on television’s “The Americans”, in which she plays a Russian spy.  Other supporting characters’ performances are exemplary, which may speak to Marshall’s direction and to Gail Goldberg’s and Barbara J. McCarthy’s casting.

      I have no idea what the premise is of Mother’s Day—it’s certainly not a weighty message.  I think that to some extent, it is Hollywood producers’ fantasy that somehow life bumps along, and everybody gains insight and a good heart and it will all turn out in the end.  Mothers will be tolerant and forgiving, divorcees will pull together putting the past behind them and becoming loving friends, and above all, mothers and children will be reunited lovingly. 

        So spake Zarathrustra.  Not.  Alas for this script, Zarathrustra observed that to plunge the depths of the world, creativity is required; a “recipe” as presented here is not sufficient.

A collection of stories that may or may not ring true.

Grade:  C-                                    By Donna R. Copeland