Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating *
Cast: Kaitlyn Dever, Beanie Feldstein, Jessica Williams, Jason Sudeikis, Lisa Kudrow, Will Forte, Victoria Ruesga, Mason Gooding, Skyler Gisondo, Diana Silvers, Molly Gordon, Billie Lourd, Eduardo Franco, Nico Hiraga, Austin Crute, Noah Galvin, Michael Patrick O’ Brien.
American comedy is perhaps the closest prospect for audiences to see the Jekyll and Hyde effect that has been prevalent for the best part of thirty years, on television the quick fire succession of set up and rapid humour has been one that has always caught the eye, series such as Frasier, Taxi, Benson, M*A*S*H and Friends have always resonated with audiences because of the use of language and situation, and yet cinema seems to struggle, and aside from the wonderfully articulate and deep work exemplified by Pixar, Disney and other animated stories, there has been an absolute dearth of outstanding, even memorable comedy films in which to praise, or to even admit to enjoying secretly.
It is in this era of scarcity that Olivia Wilde’s Book Smart is to be found nestling, a film that deserves more, not least for Olivia Wilde herself who is arguably one of the most assured and insightful of directors and actors around, and also for several of the cast who battle gainfully to at least give audiences a fresh take on the coming of age/American high school scenarios which is meant to act as a sense of reflected positives to those to whom the world is yet to give a taste of the demands of adulthood, of fun, of feeling unbeatable.
Times have undoubtedly changed, and perhaps comedy has had to change with it, but it seems now, and especially in Book Smart, that the fundamental process of comedy is to have a situation which alienates anyone who does not fit in to a world of underwhelming characterisation, in which the biggest laughs are not mocking the status quo, the ridiculous nature in which the uptight previous generations are brought down but redeemed, instead now the humour feels flat, wasted, drunk on cheap alcohol but pretending it has been refined by years of drinking 30 year old Highland Park Whisky.
Whilst the film Animal House is dated beyond repair, its message not truly fit for purpose in today’s world, it did however make no pretensions to be anything else at the time, its message was simple, outrageous, effective, now American cinematic comedy is stuttering, too scared to truly hit home at the problems of today, and yet there is an awful lot in which is happening in that country which is absolutely ripe for satire, no matter the set-up, be it high school realisation or suburban dogma, it just is not happening outside television.
Arguably a wasted opportunity, and aside from a quality performance by Billie Lourd as Gigi, there is little to praise from Book Smart, a film that has little edge except for the current need to pretend to shock and will not appeal to many outside its small target audience.
Ian D. Hall