'Booksmart' is a bold, perfect debut for director Olivia Wilde

I went into the new movie Booksmart on its side. Its trailer had always made me laugh and charmed me, but nothing prepared me for how much I was going to fall in love with this film. It was a breath of fresh air and it really gave me hope that humane, character-driven movies will continue to have a future.

American film comedy has been in real peril for years. There have only been the occasional gem since 2011's Bridesmaids, as television has long surpassed Hollywood's output in terms of quality and success. Studios seem to have determined that comic book epics are just so much more profitable that mainstream comedy, that one of the most durable genres in movie history has started to die a slow death.

And Olivia Wilde has come to the rescue. Wilde has really arrived as a major film director here. This is peak James L. Brooks good. The writing is razor sharp -- with multiple walk-on characters coming in and slaying from the sidelines. She has managed to make a teen comedy that feels original but is so joyful, heartbreaking and authentic. Oh, and the soundtrack is supremely dope, too.

It's a mistake to brand it as a female Superbad. As hilarious as that movie was it didn't go as emotionally deep as Booksmart does . It features one of the most lovingly realized female friendships I've ever seen on-screen with co-leads Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever both giving incredibly winning, star-making performances as our overachieving heroes.

Of course, the structure is simple enough -- all the great '80s coming of age films whose DNA it shares do the same thing: the days before graduation, the stakes are raised and you're in this weird nexis between childhood and adulthood. For people like the leads, who spent high school only focused on academics, this time can be tinged with regret and frustration.

Many of us dream of having at least one night to make up for all the mayhem we missed and in this film we get to do just that. This movie takes you for an uproarious ride that you're not going to want to get off of. It's about being ready to grow up but missing being a kid at the same time.

American Graffiti got it that ambiguous feeling. Say Anything got it, too. And this film, which is in their class, gets it too, but in a way that is effortless and woke without apology and buoyant and sincere.

Honestly I can't stop gushing about this movie. I want it be a hit; the way Eighth Grade deserved to be, the way Boyhood should have been. Coming of age films, when done right, are so special because they can really serve up a little of everything -- romance, tears, laughs, terror.

The graduation days have formed the bedrock for many a narrative and this movie has many brilliant set pieces -- but it's relationship at the center that makes this movie a modern classic.

I can't believe I've already seen two films year that will be in my top 10 and have emerged as all time favorites with (Us, too) but it's happened. The bar is now very high for the rest of 2019.