pt2023 | rated R | starring Rachel Sennott, Ayo Edebiri, Marshawn Lynch | directed by Emma Seligman | 1h 31m | 3 1/2 out of 5 stars |
It’s been a good decade since the Hollywood studios actively stopped making comedies. Every few years a few low budget exceptions squeak by, but otherwise this is largely a dead art with comedy deployed as irony or self awareness on top of other genre movies (horror comedies, superhero movies) to give it a 4-quadrant appeal. In 2023 we got two. First the star-turn studio film No Hard Feelings, in which Jennifer Lawrence finally gave into her comic instincts and slipped effortlessly into the role of a broke Uber driver who is paid by a family to date and build the confidence of their high school age son. It was a very funny film with a few great comedy set pieces, a fully fleshed out town for a setting and a spin on 80s teen comedies like Can’t Buy Me Love that spun it’s very iffy premise into a genuinely sweet story of two people finding an unlikely connection. Highly recommended.
The second film was Bottoms, a movie that warrants a few more words in this review because of how wonderfully bizarre it is. Like No Hard Feelings it’s premise is an 80s teen sex comedy at core and also like NHF it is centered on it’s lead characters and their wacky roadmap to growing up. PJ (Rachel Sennott, Bodies Bodies Bodies) and Josie (Ayo Edebiri, The Bear) are two high school lesbians at the low end of the high school social ladder. In order to get noticed by their respective crushes, Brittany (Kaia Gerber) and Isabele (Havana Rose Liu), they start a school self defense club (a fight club for people who didn’t understand Fight Club). As the girls get closer, their less-than-pure motives threaten to be exposed and blow up their budding relationships.
First of all, it is both hilarious and a sign of the times that teenagers would be shocked and appalled by other teenagers going to great lengths to try to have sex. No Hard Feelings has a similar joke about what sexless Gen Alpha does behind closed doors. Despite their intentions PJ and Josie do learn to fight, and get confident and fit in. But more, the movie is funny, pushing one liners and absurd gags in front of its themes. Edebiri is given the longest character arc and Sennott is given the most dramatic turns – both learning that their ‘types’ may not be what’s best for them and both have the kind of best friend chemistry that sells the movie. I’m always weary of stunt casting and yet Marshawn Lynch (yes, Marshawn Lynch) is hilarious here as the adult sponsor of the girls’ club whose path to feminism brings out a torrent of emotions for him.
Part of it is the whip smart dialog (co-written by Sennott) and the perfect shot for comedy staging from director/co-writer Emmma Seligman. Seligman and Sennott previously teamed up on Shiva Baby, a hyper realistic mumble-core drama – making the swing to pure comedy here even more impressive. Seligman’s use of flat shots and cutting and extending some takes just longer than they should go shows a keen eye for the visual language of comedy. On more than one occasion it’s the quick cut or lingering shot alone that squeezes an idea from kind of funny into a genuine laugh. Bravo stuff.
For audiences Bottoms is going to be made or broken in it’s third act, which takes a hard, hard right turn into absurdist comic territory involving an actual ritualistic sacrificial murder from the rival school. For me, it completely worked. It makes the movie stand out in a sea of teen comedies and it rides that line right up to the point where the characters break the film’s reality – but not quite breaking it. Similarly absurd is the over-the-top way the movie has its way with the high school Quarterback God trope (Nicholas Galitzine), a quick-tempered cry baby whose every whim is worshiped and met by either the school or his team sycophants. He postures and cowers in the corner while the girls solve the problems, and all in a way that is so cartoonish that it’s hard to take as anything but a joke.
That over-the-top live-action cartoon quality is ultimately what makes Bottoms stand out from the rest. It’s a smart, fun, funny film and a calling card for up-and-coming, outside of Hollywood talents of Sennott and Seligman.
To Be Continued…