Story Lessons: Booksmart (2019)
By: Ant Jackson
Tags: Film, Writing, Screenwriting, Movies, Creativity

Story Lessons: Booksmart (2019)

5 takeaways from the critically acclaimed comedy

Logline

Two nerdy girls desperately try to be wild and make it to their first high school party on the night before graduation.

Why I Watched

Booksmart got some stellar reviews, earning a 97% score on Rotten Tomatoes. I’m always intrigued by comedies that earn widespread approval because the genre is so subjective.

I’m also a sucker for high school or college movies; growing up in Northern England, they fuelled my fascination with America. When someone told me Booksmart was “Superbad with girls,” I was sold.

From a creative point of view, this type of movie interests me because the writers have to find a way to keep the story interesting without dangling huge stakes like ‘save the world’ or ‘win the championship’ in front of you. Usually, this means creating awesome characters.

I also enjoy analyzing how films play with the conventions of the genre and, the high school romp is a well-worn genre in need of an update.

I can’t dissect the movie without getting into the details so SPOILER ALERT… from this point on, you have been warned.

The Story

It’s the day before graduation. Molly is the super-competitive controlling type, Amy is a social justice warrior who recently came out as gay but has yet to act on it, both of them are overachievers who have sacrificed fun in the pursuit of getting into good colleges.

When Molly learns that all the degenerate classmates that she looks down on are also going to top colleges, she becomes adamant that the girls experience a wild high school party. A reluctant Amy agrees and after lying to her parents they set off to have some fun… only they don’t have the address.

Whilst trying to find the elusive party, the girls trip balls at a murder mystery party and try to hold-up a pizza delivery guy. Molly encourages Amy to learn how to pleasure another woman (by streaming porn) and Amy encourages Molly to go after the hot popular guy.

Through the help of their teacher, they finally end up at the party. At first, they have a great time (all the other kids are excited to finally get the chance to party with the smart kids) until the fun bubble pops when Amy discovers the girls’ crushes are hooking up with each other. While trying to protect Molly from this sad realization, the two get into a fight and Amy reveals that she is not going to college next year; totally ruining Molly’s plans for them. Molly thinks Amy is a coward and Amy thinks Molly is selfish and controlling. In the heat of the post-fight, Amy makes a move on a hot mean-girl and Molly learns the classmates she never took the time to understand.

In the aftermath, Amy is arrested when she sacrifices herself to save the other kids at the party from getting busted. The next day, Molly visits her in jail. Both girls apologize and then it becomes a race to make graduation. Arriving just in time, Amy is now a hero and Molly delivers a humble and sweet graduation speech. As the girls prepare for life after high school, Amy is heading off for a gap year and Molly is ready to be on her own.

Nail the tone

Booksmart is funny and not just in sporadic parts like a lot of comedies, but from the first scene to the last. I think the reason behind this success is that they nailed its comedic tone.

When it comes to comedy, there are so many different shades. Oftentimes, when a comedy struggles it is because the writers never settle on a tone. They move between broad jokes, parody, surreal humor, and although these can work individually, collectively it becomes muddled.

Booksmart establishes that it’s a hyper-real world early on; a world where all the party kids are going to amazing colleges and the desperate rich kid hands out t-shirts of himself.

Everything about the characters and their escapades is exaggerated but the jokes are grounded in the characters.

There’s a scene where the girls discover they’ve accidentally taken a hallucinogen and suddenly think that they’ve become barbie dolls. It’s a surreal moment that could easily feel out of place, but it works because the joke comes from the fact the girls are feminists and the scene revolves around watching them deal with this skewed version of feminity.

New take on an old idea

Booksmart was pitched to me as the girl version of Superbad. Sometimes this kind of explanation can be misleading, but in this case, I think its pretty fair.

Booksmart and Superbad hit similar situation, beats, and themes. Crucially, they differ is in the execution and the characters.

It’s not enough to just switch the gender of a character and then tell the same story; you have to offer a fresh perspective as well.

Not only does Booksmart change the main characters from teenage boys to teenage girls, but it makes them super smart and one of them gay. This key change opens up a whole new dynamic. Now, even though both sets of characters are trying to make it to a party, the story feels different.

This kind of comparison can be helpful when you’re trying to get people interested in your idea because a potential producer or actor can easily imagine the type of story and potential success.

However, it can also be harmful if your movie does not meet the expectation you set. Fortunately, Booksmart does not make this mistake. Not only does it change up the characters, but it uses them to twist well-worn situations.

A good example is the hallucinogen scene previously mentioned. The writers could have had the girls take drugs and say stupid stuff, like in every other high school movie, but by having them transform into dolls they pushed it in a new direction. It’s decisions like this that make Booksmart stand out.

How to compensate for a lack of stakes

One of my favorite writers on screenwriting is Carson Reeves over at Scriptshadow. He’s been preaching a philosophy for years (one that aligns with most of the other screenwriting gurus) that insists stories need goals, stakes, and urgency.

Carson argues that the best screenplays have all three, but if your concept does not allow for that then you have to find ways to overcome it.

In Booksmart, the story has a strong and simple goal (get to the party) and justifiable urgency (its the night before graduation) but the stakes are pretty weak.

Molly sees it as their last chance to party before the end of high school, but if the girls were to fail at this goal their lives would not be much different. The lessons that the girls learn during the movie could just as easily be learned in college, or another party.

So how does the movie overcome this deficit?

It uses two strategies. Firstly, it ramps up the pace. Molly’s determination and sometimes overzealous passion makes Booksmart moves fast. When they get into a funny situation, the writers bang out the jokes and then the story moves on. It rarely stops to reflect or contemplate on what happens. Subsequently, the audience does the same.

The second tactic is that when holes start to appear because of a lack of stakes, the writers insert a moment to refill the stake balloon.

This can be seen when the girls leave the first party on an empty yacht with the rich kid and his crazy girlfriend. Amy wants to go home but Molly claims “Malala”; their codeword for requesting unconditional support.

Not only does this fit their characters, but it temporarily raises the stakes.

Later, after the second failed party and drug trip, the girls are about to stop when Amy learns that Molly has feelings for a hot-guy Nick but does not feel like she is good enough. Amy slaps her and insists that if Nick is what she wants then that’s what she deserves. Once again, this injects importance to the goal and explains why the girls would continue on their crazy journey.

Exploit your characters for comedy

As mentioned, Booksmart delivers a fresh take on the high school movie by making the main characters’ nerdy girls and twisting scenes that we’ve seen before. But Booksmart also delivers some completely original moments by digging deep into the characters.

One of my favorite moments is when Amy and Molly get caught up complimenting each other. It comes from the fact the girls are committed to being strong women who support each other and so it perfectly fits their characters.

It’s a great twist on the common depiction of women as catty or competitive and the joke hits extra hard as the girls are in matching outfits.

Another memorable scene from the movie sees the girls getting a Lyft only to discover that it’s their principal.

An awkward ride with a teacher is not particularly inspired, but the writers take it a step further by having the girls accidentally stream hardcore porn over the sound system.

It’s one of the most laugh-out-loud moments in the movie but it only works because it makes sense. Prior to this scene, the audience knows that Amy likes girls but has never actually touched one. It is also believable that Amy would never have previously looked at porn because she’s a social justice warrior that does not want to perpetuate the problem of human trafficking.

When Molly convinces Amy to just watch a little porn (with their headphones in) so that she can get an idea of what to do before she tries to hook up with her crush, we buy it. The audience can see what will happen before it happens but rather than ruining the punchline, it amps up the anticipation. And it all comes from character!

The classic speech as closure

There’s a technique that I’ve observed in movies like Crazy Stupid Love, St. Vincent, Legally Blonde, and now Booksmart that offers an exception to the rule: Show Don’t Tell.

In all of these movies, the main character delivers a speech to the other characters where they explicitly explain what they have learned through the course of the movie. In almost every other instance, this type of speech does not work. However, if it is baked into the concept (in the movies listed, they all revolve around a valedictorian speech) then you can get away with it.

In Booksmart, the writers keep it short and sweet. Molly admits to the class she saw them as competition and never took the time to understand them. It’s a generic scene but placed in the context of the whole movie it just about works.

These scenes are a little on the nose and feel very much like a “movie moment” (in Molly’s graduation speech no parents are present). Yet, if your character has genuinely earned the moment throughout the course of the story, the emotional speech does offer a nice way to provide some closure on the theme of the movie.

Fade Out

Booksmart is a fun movie for anyone to watch, but I think it could be particularly helpful for anyone who is working on a comedy, a story set in high school, or a story that focuses on friendship. In these areas, it gets AP points.

As of 3/15/2020, you can stream Booksmart on Hulu.