Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) and Molly (Beanie Feldstein) are high school outcasts
and that suits them just fine. They’ve worked hard, looked like pretentious
nerds to their peers, and now they’re about to reap the rewards by getting into
fancy universities where presumably they can finally let their hair down and finally be themselves surrounded by actual peers instead of bonehead losers.
Then Molly discovers that their hard-partying classmates
are about to reap those exact same rewards (they're not even losers!). Turns out the duo have been doing high school
all wrong; now Molly only has tonight to drag Amy out and cram in all the
partying they missed. The good news is there’s a big party happening. The bad
news? They don’t know where it is.
The “one crazy night” genre is well worn (remember Project X?). And by "well worn" I mean "totally played out" - seriously, it's been the basic template for so many teen movies this century when reviewers compare this solely to Superbad they're just being lazy. That's not to say it's a bad template in any way; having a big night is both a near-universal teen experience and a great way to stitch together a bunch of comedy sketch ideas into a coherent whole. But the big selling point here isn't originality of plot, it's originality of tone.
Director Olivia Wilde hits just the right tone for these goofy but earnest teens, giving their big night an inclusive vibe that doesn’t dampen the laughs. There's no winners or losers here, no good guys or bad, and while that may not be a completely accurate depiction of high school life, it's definitely tapping into today's mood in the same way that the crass teens of films like Project X did in their day. These kind of films work best when they're at least half fantasy (most actual big nights involve a lot of walking and standing around), and here the fantasy has at least as much to do with the idea that all teens are deep down decent and thoughtful as it does a wacky (accidental) drug trip where our heroes turn into dolls.
Director Olivia Wilde hits just the right tone for these goofy but earnest teens, giving their big night an inclusive vibe that doesn’t dampen the laughs. There's no winners or losers here, no good guys or bad, and while that may not be a completely accurate depiction of high school life, it's definitely tapping into today's mood in the same way that the crass teens of films like Project X did in their day. These kind of films work best when they're at least half fantasy (most actual big nights involve a lot of walking and standing around), and here the fantasy has at least as much to do with the idea that all teens are deep down decent and thoughtful as it does a wacky (accidental) drug trip where our heroes turn into dolls.
All the best intentions in the world wouldn't work out if the two leads werren't as charming as hell. Dever and Feldstein are a great
comedy duo with great chemistry; while the stakes couldn’t be much lower with their adventures, they’re
so likable and funny together that it’s impossible not to hope they find the good time they’re chasing.
- Anthony Morris
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