Ok so after watching it and reading a lot of reviews, I can see why everybody is so divided on this movie.
First of all; it's not a very original idea and it is indeed hard not to make the "Super Bad" comparison. But at the same time, it is a genre movie and I think we can all establish that "Non-popular kids that want to go to a party but run into various obstacles along the way that interfere with them going to the party" is a pretty strong genre on itself nowadays.
Also, this is Olivia Wilde's directorial debut and obviously it shows throughout the movie. The script is far from perfect and because of that, some sections in the movie felt a bit too long and/or unnecessary. But then again, directing is an art and you don't master it when you are making your first film.
People also said that they found it disappointing that the movie was shot in such a commercial way, meaning they would rather see the movie be more like "Lady Bird" or "Dazed and Confused". And while I get why people would like that (it would certainly be interesting to see how Olivia would approach that kind of movie). I also really like the fact that she didn't choose that route and gave it a more commercial feel. Cause this way she could spread the message to a bigger audience as well as paying kind of a homage to this type of genre movie's that also has a more commercial feel.
And talking about the message in this movie. Here's where I think it really shines and why it was also a highly enjoyable movie. I found that the characters were all really refreshing. Everybody had their own thing going on so off course nobody liked each other but I didn't get the feeling that anybody in the movie was really bullied.
Even in the bathroom scene, where Molly is on the toilet overhearing a conversation about herself, the two guys also said some negative things about her because of her some personal traits she possesses but they also said a lot of positive things and it didn't feel like they said all those things just to be bullies.
The main philosophy of this movie I also find very interesting. So these two girls behaved themselves all through high school so they could get into the best colleges only to find out that everybody who they though only partied all year and were interested in anything but school, also got into those colleges. Now, this may not look like a big massage but how many people from high school don't we know that live there lives exactly like that, basically missing out on all these great life experiences. For them, this is a pretty big message I take. And in this day and age, where most of our social contact moments are on a phone screen, a welcome one.
Now can I also say that it was very refreshing to see a movie that featured the lgbtq+ so casually (like it is in real life I might at). Lots of characters were gay or floating in between, and it was just there. For me, the way it was portraited felt very much like my surroundings. It wasn't a big deal. It wasn't a search for answers about the character's sexuality like how a lot of movies would approach it when integrating this subject. And if you're a white male (like myself) and you're thinking to yourself right now "why does everything have to be about lgbtq+ nowadays?". Its because we have already seen all the movies about the white male protagonist from every angle and philosophy imaginable and frankly we all grew a little bit tired of it, That's why!
And there are smaller clever things in "Booksmart", like the big fight scene with was very well shot. Also, wacky scenery moments that pulled the viewer out of reality for a second added a kind of surrealistic aspect to the movie.
So all things considered: I really enjoyed this movie! Was it a masterpiece for cinema, no I don't think so. Does that matter? Not at all. Cause you can tell that this movie did what Olivia was set out to do; Make a fun movie to inspire highschool students and implement some fresh and interesting ideas to a genre we all grew up with and love. In our time we had "Super Bad" Let these kids have there "Booksmart".
