A One Mann’s Movies review of “Bottoms” (2023).
I have to say that as a 62-year-old heterosexual man, I am perhaps NOT the target audience for “Bottoms”. But I can still enjoy a raunchy high-school romp as much as the next child-trapped-in-a-man’s-body. (After all, I saw “Porky’s” when it first came out in 1981, and still fondly remember the girl nicknamed “Lassie” – for reasons we won’t go into here!). And I did enjoy this one. Though Shakespeare it is most definitely not!
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
Plot Summary:
Two unpopular high-school lesbians – PJ (Rachel Sennott) and Josie (Ayo Edebiri) – dream of getting into the pants of their school crushes, Brittany (Kaia Gerber) and Isabel (Havana Rose Liu) respectively. They come up with the plan of starting a girl’s “Fight Club” to empower the female pupils of the school and allow them some close physical contact with the participants.
Certification:
UK: 15; US: R; (From the BBFC web site: “Strong sex references, bloody violence, very strong language”).
Talent:
Starring: Rachel Sennott, Ayo Edebiri, Kaia Gerber, Havana Rose Liu, Ruby Cruz, Nicholas Galitzine, Marshawn Lynch, Miles Fowler, Dagmara Dominczyk.
Directed by: Emma Seligman.
Written by: Emma Seligman & Rachel Sennott.
Twitter Handle: #BottomsMovie.
Running Time: 1h 31m.
Flying high in the popularity stakes. PJ (Rachel Sennott), Hazel (Ruby Cruz) and Josie (Ayo Edebiri). (Source: Orion Pictures).
“Bottoms” Review:
Positives:
- As I again found out in this week’s episode of Flickering Dreams, comedy is in the eye of the beholder: both Scott Forbes and Emma Sewell didn’t find this film funny at all! But (and maybe I was just in the right mood), I laughed a lot at this one. As you might tell from the “Plot Summary”, the humour is rude and crude but had enough verve and energy to carry me along with it. For me, it most closely resembles “Booksmart” in tone but its fantasy, fighting and girl-power elements also brought to mind the excellent “Polite Society” from earlier in the year. Some of the more anarchic actions (the impaling for example) also reminded me of the “Anchorman” films.
- Rachel Sennott (who co-wrote the film with director Emma Seligman) and Ayo Edebiri are both highly engaging in the lead roles. Senott in particular has expressions that just made me laugh without her having to say anything! I also loved Ruby Cruz as Hazel, the girl with a surprising supply of C4. This is Cruz’s feature-debut (she played Jess in the TV series “The Mare of Easttown” with Kate Winslet) and she has a fantastic screen presence: I realised I was unconciously watching her in every group scene. I should also mention Nicholas Galitzine who I found hilarious as the uber-jock Jeff, his only weakness being pineapple juice!
Negatives:
- While the film has numerous sex scenes and lots of girl-on-girl kissing action, it is actually significantly less rude than “Booksmart” (who can forget that panda and also the hilarious party-bathroom scene). But it really makes up for that in terms of violence. Much of this is of a cartoonish nature within the “Fight Club” and that lessens its impact. HOWEVER, there is one moment of violence meted out on Hazel by one of the jocks that I found completely over-the-top and totally sickening. An “OOOOH, NO!” moment. Completely unnecessary.
Hilariously over-the-top as the head of the football team, Jeff (.Nicholas Galitzine) (Source: Orion Pictures)
Monkeys
The first part of the end titles is full of bloopers and alternative takes. (Ex-American football star Marshawn Lynch, as “Mr G”, apparently ad-libbed virtually all of his lines and many feature here). The titles are very entertaining and worth staying for.
Summary Thoughts on “Bottoms”
As I said, I found this to be most closely related to Booksmart and Polite Society: both favourites of mine. But it’s not as good (imho) as either of those. However, I still found it fresh, energetic and funny for a ribald comedy of this type. I’d definitely give it another watch.
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Trailer for “Bottoms”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vH5NAahf76s . Note that this is the red band trailer, no NSFW!
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