Review by Eric Hillis
Directed by: Emma Speligman
Starring: Rachel Sennott, Ayo Edebiri, Havana Rose Liu, Kaia Gerber, Nicholas Galitzine, Dagmara Dominczyk,
Marshawn Lynch
When they came together in the 1970s, Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor
proved a comic revelation that defied comedy tradition. Convention had
stated that comic pairings should consist of a straight man and a clown.
With Wilder and Pryor we now had two clowns. They didn't so much bounce
off each other as bump into one another, but it worked. In
writer/director Emma Seligman's Bottoms, the young duo of Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edibiri make a
strong case for being Gen Z's Wilder and Pryor. Neither character could
be considered a straight man, in any sense of the term, and while
neither actress is actually Jewish, they both channel that distinctively
Jewish neuroticism that has fuelled so many of the great American
comedies (and which was on full display in Seligman's debut
Shiva Baby).
Sennott and Edibiri play PJ and Josie, a pair of lesbian friends who
are outsiders in their high school. They seem to have gained this status
not through being victims of homophobia (the film is set in a very
accepting Gen Z milieu) but simply through their own neuroticism. Like
the young male heroes of so many bawdy high school comedies of the past,
PJ and Josie are desperate to get laid but have absolutely zero game.
The fact that they've set their sights on Isabel (Havana Rose Liu) and Brittany (Kaia Gerber), who appear to be the living
embodiment of the heterosexual cheerleader, doesn't help their cause.
The protagonists of these films usually have some "plain" admirer whose
obvious compatibility they overlook, and that's a trope leaned into here
through the character of Hazel (Ruby Cruz), a lesbian who seems
to have a crush on PJ, who ignores her existence as soon as the
statuesque Cindy Crawford lookalike Brittany enters the room.
High school comedies have a long tradition of their male protagonists
coming up with morally dubious ways of winning the hearts of the hot
girls, and Bottoms is no different. When a female student
is beaten by a football player form a rival school, PJ and Josie exploit
their classmates' fears by establishing an after school programme that
Josie describes as a self defence class but PJ pitches as a "fight
club." Either way, it's simply an excuse for PJ and Josie to womanhandle
some hot cheerleaders.
Bottoms follows the basic formula of the high school
comedy, with Josie actually managing to seduce the not so straight after
all Isabel until her and PJ's true motivations are exposed. But
Seligman, co-writing with Sennott, adds a heavy dose of absurdism. The
fight club scenes are hilariously over the top, preparing us for a
climactic football game that features swords being wielded and jocks
literally murdered by the girls PJ and Josie have "trained." The classic
scenes of high school life are dialled up to 11, with the football
players permanently clad in their kits regardless of whether it's
actually game day or not. The adults are a hyper parody of the usual
assortment of disinterested teachers, frustrated principals and horny
moms this sub-genre is known for. The ironic homoeroticism of American
football proves ripe for jibes; not since the Marx Brothers'
Horse Feathers has America's obsession with that sport
been ribbed in such anarchic fashion.
In a reversal of the racial dynamic of Wilder and Pryor, it's Edebiri
who takes the Wilder-esque role of the sensitive one who ultimately gets
the girl, while Sennott is the foul-mouthed smartass. Closing credits
bloopers reveal a high level of improvisation was employed but unlike
Judd Apatow, Seligman never allows her performers to over indulge
themselves in this regard. As funny as Sennott and Edibiri are here, the
real comic revelation is former American football player
Marshawn Lynch as a constantly stoned teacher PJ and Josie rope
in to act as the adult supervisor of their fight club. Every line
delivery provokes a chuckle, and his outtakes are the highlights of the
closing blooper reel.
Yet while Bottoms mocks and satirises the American high
school comedy, it lacks the tight structure and focus of the best of
those movies. Around the halfway mark it loses direction for a brief
while, and the subplot of PJ and Hazel never feels satisfyingly
developed. Seligman clearly knows what elements of teen comedies she
wants to poke fun at, but at times she seems to miss the point that such
films work because they embrace certain clichés. With a bit more thought
Bottoms might have stood alongside the likes of
Clueless and Mean Girls rather than simply
satisfying itself with aiming digs at such movies.
Bottoms is on Prime Video UK/ROI now.
