“Bottoms” Review: A Classic, Renewed
Bottoms is unapologetically its own, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.
Bottoms announces itself bluntly, and, what will soon be realized is commonplace for this witty comedy, in hilarious fashion. High school senior’s PJ (Rachel Sennott) and Josie (Ayo Edebiri) break down their end of the year plan: to get laid by their cheerleader crushes Isabel (Havana Rose Liu) and Brittany (Kaia Jordan Gerber). The issue? Isabel is dating the titular quarterback Jeff (Nicholas Galitzine), a name so blank-faced it matches the satirical depiction of a hyper-masculine white football captain. One with, apparently, a massive, throbbing…you know. The film will say what I’m too afraid to here, and that is what makes Bottoms so infinitely enjoyable. The premise has been done before, literally, as the girls form a fight club to impress their crushes through the power of empowering. Feminism being paraded for self-serving means in this form invites thematic nuance to a seemingly light premise, and the execution ties this familiar package into a gift all its own. One may think they’ve seen Bottoms before based on the trailer, but never has the promise of the premise been fully realized until now: Bottoms is weird, absurdist, and completely unapologetic. The film launches a barrage of jokes; assaults the viewer with clever, thematically relevant, or just plain hilarious dialogue that never fails to entertain or shock. This film has the dirt and grime, the weirdness and confidence, the heart and meaning required for a teen comedy classic. Again, you may think you’ve seen Bottoms before, but to call it an attempt at cloning *Superbad* would be a disservice to the unique hilarity on display.
As PJ and Josie navigate their painful existence as the untalented and ugly gays of the school, they are joined by fellow outcast Hazel (Ruby Cruz), who matches the leading duo in personality. In fact, every character feels completely individualized, mostly as a result of the strong writing and commitment to the roles from this brilliant cast. The leads are obvious standouts, as Sennott and Edebiri have perfect chemistry, always building off the other’s energy. But it’s not just the leads, as Galitzine gives a performance so physical and absurdist that his mere presence invokes laughter. His co-captain Tim, played by Miles Fowler, was another stand out that often stole the spotlight from his hero (which must be unintentional, Tim would never dare to step on Jeff’s toes). Even the smallest of character’s are given life by having consistent jokes paired with these committed performances, such as Marshawn Lynch’s Mr. G whose divorce puts him at odds with feminism as a concept, and Sylvie who looks like she’ll pop a blood vessel whenever cheering on her “queens.” The eclectic cast of characters also livens the world, populating this absurd nightmare depiction of high school with people that somehow feel like they are exactly where they belong. However, it again cannot be understated how bland this film would be, how flat the characters would act, how boring the world would present itself if it wasn’t for these truly spectacularly hilarious performances.
Every aspect of Bottoms is completely unafraid to go there, and like the performances, this commitment to the strange is what makes the world feel alive and the movie itself a profound success. The jokes are brash and crude, but never insensitive and always well timed. This made for an amazing theater experience, where my crowd would consistently gasp before falling into the familiar act of laughing until it hurts. The production design also matches the excess and profanity of the humor with stellar attention to detail. Oftentimes a background piece of information will be a gag unto itself, such as an out of focus student pretending to suck down a corn dog while in the background of a conversation between our leads. One could also never forget the environment itself, where the school walls are plastered with equally grotesque and humorous promotional material for the upcoming football game that matters more than life itself for even the authority figures, proven by the principal’s dismissal of PJ and Josie’s abuse for praising the game with swear words abound. The world never seems real, and yet, all of it feels lived in. Consistent use of set ups and pay offs only further demonstrates the writing prowess and attention to detail this film so clearly presents in every minute of its runtime.
The absurd world itself is then captured and presented with style. While it is difficult to remember what films like Superbad or Book Smart looked like, *Bottoms* is expressive in its cinematography, which not only adds more texture to this already detailed world, but an energetic pace that matches the lighter tone for a purely entertaining watch. Whip pans abound match the high school’s chaos, which itself is also captured in all of its drab glory. If the lacking staff wasn’t enough to make any and all classes feel like a waste of time, then the architecture and presentation make high school a truly oppressive space to exist in. The camera thus matches the character’s and world’s energy, further demonstrated when switching to handheld or wide static shots for more intimate moments. The style and eye for detail is present in the cinematography, much as it is for everything else Bottoms has to offer.
Which includes a lacking third act. While the narrative momentum is maintained due to the humor and engaging conflict between memorable characters, the final portion of the film is a bit thematically distant from what came before. Similarly, PJ as a character seems to fizzle as the movie progresses, never coming to an active realization about her abhorrent behavior, instead having her arc handed to her by Josie in a way that only serves to make PJ a less engaging character than the beginning of the film proposed. This makes Bottoms’ ending, while hilarious and undoubtedly entertaining, a bit shallower than one might have expected from the creative genius on display before the final minutes.
Despite that, Bottoms remains a comedic triumph all its own. It is a film that did what imitations could never: make the high school comedy new again. While previous insertions into the genre have all been marked by Jonah Hill’s and Michael Cera’s influence, Bottoms is so unabashedly itself and often pokes fun at the very genre it exists within. Jokes that break the fourth wall or comment on our own social ills make Bottoms feel relevant in more ways than one, adding thematic complexity to the list of elements that makes Bottoms truly unique and worth every watch it will receive as a new classic of the genre.