Bottoms

It's been a long time since I've seen a comedy that feels like it never lets up. A comedy that has you laughing so consistently, that it immediately begs a re-watch because you're missing one-liners and other gags.  

Sure, there are certain Marvel films that use humor effectively and consistently, and other comedies or actioners that are amusing...but in terms of a full-blown laugh-fest, I cannot remember a film in recent years like that. Only when I go back to the time of films like The Hangover, Step Brothers, or Tropic Thunder (all of which I should Retro Review), can I remember a comedy that is re-watchable and always funny.

And this is why Bottoms is so incredibly refreshing, taking me back to a time of offensive - with good intentions - comedy that fires on all cylinders. I have been looking forward to this film for about a month, expecting it to start strong and perhaps get less funny as the film progressed. 

Not so. Bottoms is straight-up one of the funniest films I've seen in a long time, hilarious for its entire 90-ish minute, short and sweet length. 

The best way to describe Bottoms is that it's a combination of a teenage sex comedy and fight club, with all females...but that would be doing it a massive disservice. Where Bottoms makes itself so uproarious - and genius - is its refusal to adhere to realism, while still feeling like it's generally bound within the realm of possibility. For example, this is still a mostly normal high school, but then characters like the quarterback Jeff, are so dimwitted and silly, that it breaks that realism in zany, effective ways. Toss in an often scene-stealing Marshawn Lynch - yes, that Marshawn Lynch - and a slew of wacky fights and a gut-busting finale and you've got the zany + retro + modern + silly combination that makes Bottoms so damn effective. 

It also owes a lot to its script, co-written by one of its stars, Rachel Sennott. The script hits the mark so consistently and so swiftly that it's impossible to catch all the laughs on the first go. The cast's delivery is remarkably on-point across a slew of differing characters, including Ayo Edebiri (you'll recognize her from The Bear, among other things) getting to lean into her comedic chops. Some very effective and fitting music choices throughout are also a high-value-add element and fit right into the crazy teenager theme. 

I'll easily be re-watching Bottoms before the end of the year and certainly before the Rath Awards, in which it has a shot of making a big dent in several awards and almost feels like a complete lock on the funniest film of the year. Given it's a smaller film, I highly encourage readers to see it if they're in the mood for a great comedy to emphasize that we need these kinds of comedies more regularly. 

Rapid Rath's Review Score | 9.5/10