I am still trying to wrap my head around BOTTOMS. That puts it well ahead of so many forgettable, unnecessary movies I have seen lately. So even if this turns out to be a mixed review, it was still totally worth it.
I think I went into this film assuming it was something like BOOKSMART, which I loved. No. Wrong. BOTTOMS is more like if DEAR EVAN HANSEN were a lesbian, coming-of-age, action flick.
This movie is like some Zen exercise where you have to try to hold multiple contradictory ideas in your brain at the same time. They are never going to fit, but making them fit isn’t really the point.
I love me some high functioning neurotics who create their own problems. This film has a lot of qualities of a traditional screwball comedy. It manages to be intelligent, observant and stupid all at the same time. And in that tradition, these characters also communicate everything through dialogue.
There is an almost sociopathic level of disconnect between all of the elements of this film
The form of this movie assumes that everything makes sense and will work out with a happy ending. It is totally dependent on the structure to bring the audience along. But there is an almost sociopathic level of disconnect between all of the elements of this film. That is not entirely new. A lot of comedy in recent years is based on just following the funny wherever it goes without regard to plot or character.
But I think it reaches a troubling point when none of the dramatic elements feel earned. Part of that is the lack of consequences for the bat-shit crazy things that happen. On one hand it can feel edgy, but on the other, lazy. And part of that is the pathological need to be liked, but also the assumption that people can be outlandish and yet still be liked. The level of cruelty, deception, and judgement becomes like the bullet count in SCARFACE. It is witty, but at some point the shear volume becomes incredulous.
And then there are the politics of it. Raunchy teen sex comedies were a staple of the 80s and have re-surged at different times, as with the AMERICAN PIE movies. So the film feels transgressive in that it is making teenage lesbians the protagonists in this version. These girls just wanna get laid and they are as blatant about it as the boys are in those 80s films. And again the film seems transgressive in that it is using the same type of young women as the object of our protagonists pursuits. It is the cheerleaders and the hot chicks, just like the straight guys are supposed to want. The third way in which the film appears to be transgressive is in flipping the gender roles of who’s in peril and who does the rescuing. In this case the quarterback of the football team is the brainless himbo and it is the girl’s self-defense club that rescues him in the end.
They are trying to trick unsuspecting pretty girls into having sex with them. The lies and deceptions grow and grow and the leads are just willing opportunists. Changing the gender of the actors doesn’t make the behavior less predatory.
Part of what sits so uncomfortably with me is that these three things that are supposed to be transgressive are actually reinforcing the systems of oppression that the film establishes. From the very first scene the two leads, who are supposed to be on the lowest rung of the social order, tacitly endorse the judgement that they are ugly and untalented. The model for their sexuality and it’s pursuit seems to be identical to male characters in those 80s films. They are trying to trick unsuspecting pretty girls into having sex with them. The lies and deceptions grow and grow and the leads are just willing opportunists. Changing the gender of the actors doesn’t make the behavior less predatory.
But the worst part for me is the football team. The film goes out of the way to paint these boys in the cruelest, most egotistical, unscrupulous, nasty and down right dangerous colors possible. There are literally no redeeming moments or qualities for these characters. And yet the girl’s self defense club is supposed to rush to their rescue? And we are supposed to be invested in that? Girl, I would get me a blender, and a big ole bag of ice and make him a pineapple daiquiri myself. Little paper umbrella and all. Here’s your coffee Mr. Hart.
I realize I am sounding like a seriously humorless granola dyke. I do like good comedy. This film is original, inventive, observant, creative. The actors do a great job of keeping the massive flow of dialogue moving lightly, deftly. And I think my discomfort as an audience member mirrors the constant discomfort of the characters. None of these people are happy in their own skin. And they are navigating a world that doesn’t make sense. That is the basis for the comedy. It is a constant stream of mistakes, bad choices and ridiculous occurrences.
I am just not convinced that all of the differences in this film add up to a coherent philosophy, theme or message. Some of it is just the filmmaker not bothering to think. For a film that is so witty, I wish it had a clearer point. And some of the disconnects in the film show an almost frightening lack of awareness and at the same time a seriously unhealthy need to be liked.
But BOTTOMS is definitely not boring.