Director: Olivia Wilde
Starring: Beanie Feldstein, Kaitlyn Dever, Lisa Kudrow, Jason Sudeikis
Running Time: 105 minutes
Synopsis: In California, brainy best friends Molly and Amy (Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever) are about to graduate from high school when they realize that by solely focusing on academic performance for the past four years, they have missed out on all the fun of being teenagers. They decide to make up for it in the one night before graduation, leading to party adventures but also new perspectives on their classmates and themselves.
What Works Well: The mix of wild high school comedy, first crush romance, general mayhem, and social diversity is underpinned by the fundamentals of a deep friendship between two likeable but imperfect girls. The second half picks up considerably once the high jinks arrive at the target party. Both Amy (interested in another girl who may or may not be gay) and Molly (harboring a crush on a victim of her superiority complex) have lessons to learn, and director Olivia Wilde stylishly captures their journey and still finds time to round many classmates into interesting secondary characters.
What Does Not Work As Well: The premise only works by skipping over the sudden onset of self-awareness in supposedly two smart teens (other classmates also made it into university! and they had fun!!). The investment in introducing the large ecosystem of fellow students and teachers surrounding Molly and Amy is admirable but also results in a slow and meandering first half. Ambition ultimately exceeds the script's limits, with jerky tonal shifts between carnage and poignancy and several characters discarded. The embrace of vulgarity is excessive.
Key Quote:
Molly: We missed out. We didn't go to parties because we wanted to focus on school and get into good colleges.
Amy: And it worked!
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