To celebrate the release of Olivia Wilde's directorial debut, Booksmart, this week we take a look back at the best high school comedies of all time:
#10. Better Off Dead
Most people remember John Cusack for his hopeless romantic starring roles in films like Say Anything or High Fidelity but he was never more hopeless than this pitch black 80's comedy that serves as more of a slapstick satire of the teen romance genre altogether. Think Not Another Teen Movie but, you know, actually funny. And without plagiarizing exact scenes from other movies. It tackles all the high school tropes you'd expect including an epic ski lodge race against the jerk that stole his girlfriend. The incredibly offbeat and occasionally morbid sense of humor may not be for everyone but it definitely stands out in a crowded genre of films that all start to feel the same.
#9. Napoleon Dynamite
The movie that broke indie mumble-core comedy into the mainstream, Napoleon Dynamite is a dry humor masterwork. High School is ripe with awkward moments so watching the most awkward people imaginable go through it feels strangely comforting and familiar. Jon Heder's portrayal of the titular character, from his exasperated know-it-all groans to his clumsy body language, absolutely makes the film what it is. There are plenty of movies about popular kids and underdogs but none with a central character quite like Napoleon Dynamite, which gives a spotlight to that kid in every class who is just weird beyond words and still somehow more comfortable with who they are than the majority of their peers.
#8. Sixteen Candles
John Hughes was the absolute king of the high school comedy in the 1980's. Very few writer / directors before him brought the kind of emotional levity he did with his teenage characters, who despite being funny and awkward, were also incredibly vulnerable and relate-able. And while 90% of teen comedies spend their time objectifying women and treating sex as the most desirable thing a man can achieve - Sixteen Candles shows you the perspective of a girl fending off the relentless advances of horny teenage boys while gathering the courage to pursue romance on her own terms. Granted, this movie isn't entirely innocent either, with Anthony Michael Hall's more than questionable hook up with a black out drunk prom queen but still, it was a huge step in the right direction after stuff like Meatballs and Porky's.
#7. Mean Girls
Back before Lindsay Lohan was a tabloid punchline, she looked primed to take Hollywood by storm with her breakout role in this film. But it's Tina Fey's screenplay, oozing with her signature brand of wit and observational humor, that makes Mean Girls a modern staple. Taking the fish out of water approach and introducing our central character as a home school student, completely new to the high school experience (in a sort of precursor to Tina Fey's Netflix series, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), the film deconstructs the catty inner-workings of your typical teenage social food chain in a smart and sadly accurate take down. Sure, it's got a lot in common with Heathers, but Mean Girls is more refined and focused on its social commentary and less preoccupied with teen suicides.
#6. Election
Alexander Payne may be one of the most underappreciated writer / directors of our time and his breakout feature about the tangled web of lies surrounding the election of a high school student body president is a great place to start if you're new to his work. As he does in most of his films, Payne examines the ugly side of human nature - with jealousy, lust, and stubborn pride derailing what should have been an unopposed victory for Reese Witherspoon's overzealous teacher's pet - Tracy Flick. It's a perfect role for Witherspoon who adds an element of empathy to a character it would have been easy to root against. And Matthew Broderick's return to high school, this time as a teacher, proves adults can be just as self centered and juvenile as the teenagers they're in charge of.
#5. Superbad
Seth Rogen's bro-mantic comedy has plenty of crude, gross out humor but its the relationship between stars Michael Cera and Jonah Hill that makes Superbad a film worth revisiting. They're not your typical buddy comedy duo - their relationship is much more grounded and examined warts and all. Then you have the police officers played by Bill Hader and Seth Rogen, who add an adult entry level to a story that's almost always told from the teenager's perspective. Taking on the cliches of yesteryear - Superbad shows what really happens when you try to pull an Anthony Michael Hall (see Sixteen Candles) and get a girl drunk enough to sleep with you. Granted, there are a few scenes where the ad-libs stretch a joke a little too thin, but the core of the film has still aged incredibly well. Just skip the director's cut if you can.
#4. Detroit Rock City
1999 was a year jam packed with amazing films so it's easy to see why something like a Detroit Rock City - a movie produced by KISS about a bunch of no name kids going to a KISS concert - was overlooked, but it definitely deserves the cult status its earned over the years. I hated KISS the first time I saw this film and still hold it up as one of my absolute favorite comedies ever made. The story of a bunch of teenagers escaping their small-town, conservative surroundings for a road trip to Detroit to see their rock and roll idols is bigger than whether or not you like the band they're going to see. The 70's setting and the group dynamic of our central 4 characters are spot on and make it the most underrated entry on the list by far.
#3. Fast Times at Ridgemont High
The deeper you get on this list, the more obvious it becomes that we're in desperate need of a film like Booksmart to bring some much needed gender equality to the sub-genre. And while most people remember Fast Times for Spicoli and Phoebe Cates; for an 80's flick, Fast Times does a surprisingly good job of putting a well rounded female character front and center with Jennifer Jason Leigh's performance as Stacy Hamilton. She gets to have sex with more than 1 person without being called a slut and even gets an abortion! How's that for equality! Progress! But mostly Fast Times is an ensemble piece with a vibrant cast of characters and watching them change over an entire school year with that subtle touch of Cameron Crowe's layered accessibility makes Fast Times an all time classic.
#2. Dazed and Confused
While a lot of the films on this list go out of their way to label and segregate the different cliques of the teenage social ladder, Dazed and Confused constructs maybe the most realistic environment of the bunch - where those lines aren't so clearly defined, with characters like Jason London's Pink who can co-exist in many circles at the same time. The film also has the most well rounded representation of each group. Typically the central character in these movies tends to cast stereotypes against the groups they're not directly associated with but Dazed and Confused lets us spend the last day of school with the jocks, the burnouts, the freshmen, the nerds, the mean girls, and everyone in between as they tell their side of the story in their own voice. Director Richard Linklater is among the best to ever do it when it comes to authentic character development and realistic dialogue so it's no surprise to see him excel in intertwining the narratives of such rich characters in this brilliant snapshot of growing up in the 1970's.
#1. The Breakfast Club
A lot of people look back on high school as the best years of their lives, glorifying the past in a way that omits some of the uglier trials and tribulations of growing up. And while John Hughes did a great job of making adolescence look like it was a constant party in movies like Weird Science and Ferris Bueller - The Breakfast Club gives voice to the pain and pressure of being a teenager in a way few movies have. Admittedly a little heavy handed at times, The Breakfast Club cuts to the emotional core of its characters in a way that humanizes teen angst and anguish from 5 unique perspectives. Not to mention the vastly underrated performance from Paul Gleason, serving as the overbearing authority figure our protagonists band together against as he grapples with the loss of his own youth and why it's causing him to lash out. The Breakfast Club breaks down the labels associated with each of its misunderstood detainees to show we all have much more in common than we think.