Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever in Booksmart (Annapurna Pictures)

The “teens on a mission” genre is always an energizing addition to the theater-going experience. They remind us how fun life can be when they make the most out of adolescent issues that would otherwise be considered trivial.

Films ranging from Trojan War (1997), Can’t Hardly Wait (1998), Detroit Rock City (1999), Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle (2004), to Superbad (2007) all happen over the course of a wild night, in the suburbs or a small town, where the main characters go through a series of wacky events that will lead them to come of age by next day’s morning. Out of all the previous titles mentioned, the last one is now given the indie, female-version treatment—yellow vintage logo included—in Booksmart. (Superbad and Booksmart both have generic compound names, sound alike, take place in Los Angeles, and the latter’s Beanie Feldstein is the younger sister of Superbad’s Jonah Hill.)

On the eve of their high school graduation, Amy and Molly, two hip straight-A best friends, played respectively by up-and-coming actors Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein, suddenly realize to their dismay that they should have more fun and worry less about studying. With an end of school house party happening, the girls decide to crash it and fulfill their repressed desires.

For Amy, an out and about lesbian, the adventure means finally declaring her love to an old crush, while Molly will end up discovering her own sense of fulfillment. On the way, they will encounter many zany situations in the form of other party settings serving as comedic sketches, and as tradition dictates in these types of movies, everything will be unveiled and defined before Molly’s and Amy’s eyes when they arrive to their destination.

With Lisa Kudrow, Jason Sudeikis, and Will Forte added to the mix, in a movie produced by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, we can all safely assume that this will be a good summer comedy, yet what truly feels fresh in Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut is the “don’t judge a book by its cover” message it proudly wears, perhaps a first for the genre. However, it’s as if the screenwriters set out to make a romp about true friendship but gave up halfway through and decided to fill the plot with empty twists, uninspired jokes, and weak solutions.

Even if the ending perfectly fits what the movie is trying to say, the random gags, like a recurring one about the same unwanted friend popping up in every scenario, turns this from the slapstick cult classic it wants to be to yet another movie to add to the pile, even though it has a lot going for it. The perfect chemistry between the two leads and their performances are the selling points of the film. If viewed repeatedly, it should be for these factors only.

The rest of the cast really get into their roles and make the movie more colorful, but many scenes that could’ve been further explored for the sake of a richer plot are instead sprinkled with underdeveloped humor. After all, if the supporting characters are compelling enough, why not exploit them more? And if there is an initial flirtation with slapstick humor, why is it abandoned?

It’s not the fact that the filmmakers remade Superbad or excessively use vulgarity to get laughs that bother me. The problem is that the spirit of slapstick becomes forever lost in this new addition to the canon.