New Orleans

Jul 02, 2023

Rachel Sennott, left, and Ayo Edebiri star in the comedy ‘Bottoms,’ an R-rated comedy directed by Emma Seligman.

Oh, if only Jerry Lewis were still with us today.

Not that his comedy is greatly missed by many. As frivolously enjoyable as his earliest on-screen frolics were, the last of his movies to be consistently funny was 1965’s “Family Jewels.” And even that’s arguable.

But it would be a sublime delight to watch Lewis eat his oversized hat upon seeing the teen sex comedy “Bottoms.”

Lewis, of course, famously and repeatedly disregarded the talent of female comics, essentially declaring a uterus a disqualifying condition when it comes to the high art of low comedy.

“Bottoms,” with its double-entendre title, almost certainly wasn’t created as a response to that Pleistocene philosophy. I have a sneaking suspicion the young women who made it don’t spend a lot of time wondering what Jerry Lewis would think.

But if they do, they sure got the last laugh.

Not only is writer-director Emma Seligman’s high school satire a female-led comedy in nearly every respect — written by women, produced by women, shot and edited by women — but it’s a genuinely funny one, delivering precisely the kind of raunchy romp Lewis insisted was unbecoming of those with child-bearing hips.

It’s also one of the smartest pure comedies to hit theaters in recent years, a career-making showcase for any number of genuinely funny women.

It starts with the film’s inspired, table-turning premise, which is by itself funnier than many comedies:

Two loser lesbians launch an underground, all-girls fight club at their high school in a ploy to get close to the hottest of its cheerleaders. General sexual hijinks ensue.

As irresistible as that setup is, the pitch-perfect casting is what really elevates “Bottoms,” starting with Rachel Sennott, the brash force of nature who co-wrote and co-stars in the film.

I’ve got a feeling Sennott (“Shiva, Baby,” “The Idol”) is going to be a major star one day, and probably soon. That kind of energy just can’t be contained.

There’s also Ayo Edebiri (“Abbott Elementary,” “The Bear”), the meek, awkward and totally loveable Goose to Sennott’s Maverick.

There’s Havana Rose Liu and Kaia Gerber as the objects of Sennott and Edebiri’s affections. There’s Ruby Cruz as one of their confederates.

Randomly, but hilariously, there’s former Seattle Seahawks beast Marshawn Lynch as a tattooed but trusting teacher.

Even New Orleans-born “SNL” cast member Punkie Johnson shows up briefly, offering a shoulder to lean on; as does Houma’s Wayne Péré, as a school principal who feels plucked right out of a Van Halen video.

(For the record, Seligman’s film was shot in New Orleans but is set in a generic American town, so don’t expect local scenery.)

“Bottoms” has already been called a lesbian “Superbad,” and that’s not an unfit analogy. Still, a better comparison would be to the films of John Hughes.

Admittedly, “Bottoms,” with its apparent alt-comedy influence, embraces the absurd more than Hughes’ reality-based comedies ever would. Imagine if “Pretty in Pink” had been made for Adult Swim, and you’re in the general neighborhood.

But more to the point, it doesn’t talk down to its young audience or hold up its teenage characters’ perceived imperfections for ridicule.

Rather, as Hughes’ movies were so good at doing, “Bottoms” meets its viewers on their level, connecting with them and laughing with them about the absurdity of the modern adolescent experience.

Also in Hughesian fashion, it celebrates the meek, the lowly, the misunderstood. (The nerds, the geeks, the wasteoids, the dweebies, as Edie McClurg might say.) And so, in addition to providing laughs, it can be counted on to help young people make sense of a time of their lives that can often feel frustratingly senseless.

Generation X was blessed with Hughes’ “Breakfast Club.” Years from now, I can see a whole new generation of young people — and young lesbians, in particular — listing “Bottoms” as one of the most impactful films of their youth, one that was made for them. Finally.

There will probably also be those who dismiss it all as so much Hollywood wokeness, another sign of the country’s “descent” into inclusiveness, compassion and understanding.

That’s just the age we live in, in which kindness is too often viewed as tantamount to weakness.

Sigh. That’s their loss. Let them have Jerry Lewis.

They deserve him.

As for me, I’ll ride with the funny ladies of “Bottoms.”

Mike Scott can be reached at [email protected].

BOTTOMS

CAST: Rachel Sennott, Ayo Edebiri, Havana Rose Liu, Kaia Gerber, Nicholas Galitzine, Marshawn Lynch, Ruby Cruz, Punkie Johnson.

DIRECTOR: Emma Seligman.

RATED: R

TIME: 1 hour, 32 minutes.

WHEN AND WHERE: Opens Friday (Sept. 1) at the Prytania Uptown, Canal Place, Broad Theater and Elmwood Palace.

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3 stars, out of 4

CAST: Rachel Sennott, Ayo Edebiri, Havana Rose Liu, Kaia Gerber, Nicholas Galitzine, Marshawn Lynch, Ruby Cruz, Punkie Johnson.

DIRECTOR: Emma Seligman.

RATED: R

TIME: 1 hour, 32 minutes.

WHEN AND WHERE: Opens Friday (Sept. 1) at the Prytania Uptown, Canal Place, Broad Theater and Elmwood Palace.