Film Review: Booksmart

On the last day of high school, two overachievers find out the party-crazy classmates they've looked down upon for years are going to top universities also. The more daring of the two convinces her bff that they have to cram four years of partying into one night to make up for the time they spent studying.

I usually complain when plots are very simple, but the characters are so endearing, the dialogue is so laugh-out-loud funny ... and raunchy ...and the pacing is so relentless, that you can't help but get sucked in.

I saw bits of the party sequence from "Sixteen Candles" and a lot of "American Graffiti," as the teens hit their coming-of-age moment with some hard truths. The ensemble cast could have been stereotypes but the more we get to know them, the more we want to get to know them.

The highlights are Beanie Feldstein as the class president who wonders why her inauguration wasn't celebrated as wildly as the last day of school, and Billie Lourde's ubiquitous, maniac space cadet. My favorite joke is when the girls start speaking in Chinese because of course they speak Chinese.

This is what "Bridesmaids" should have been, raunchy, smart and fun instead of cheap diarrhea jokes.

Comedies with plots: A Fish Called Wanda

I've been bemoaning the lack of plots in modern comedies. This was spurred by "Bridesmaids," whose plot was "woman upset best friend is getting new best friend." And this was then padded with set pieces (Kristen Wiig drunk on an airplane, Kristen Wiig throws tantrum, everyone gets diarrhea.)

I was thinking today of "A Fish Called Wanda." A diamond caper goes hilariously off the rails. Great performances, characters with motivation, twists and turns, subplots! No padding, and, no diarrhea.

If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor.

Film Review: "Bridesmaids," the overdue free HBO weekend edition

For a hit movie, it was really not very good:

Extra-long sequence of dueling toasts which outlasted its funniness
Extra-long sequence on airplane which outlasted its funniness
Extra-long sequence at bridal shower that outlasted its funniness
Diahrea sequence which is somehow mandatory in every modern comedy
I read once that in any movie that centers on women it has to be about competition between two women, either for a man, or in this case, the friendship of another woman.

This was a thin thin story. I keep thinking the original version of "The Producers" is the last comedy that had a plot. Every comedy since "Porky's" has been about people pooping, and isn't it hilarious when people get the runs.

OK, no one got kicked in the balls, somehow they forgot to do that, probably because there were so few men in the movie.

Great cast, some good set up, meeting all the characters, then it loses momentum with the dueling toast scene and never recovers.