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| Courtesy of Universal |
Trust me, I’m more surprised by that statement than anyone. It’s not the outcome I was expecting as I walked into the screening, that’s for sure. I’d somehow avoided any trailers, clips or promotional materials, other than the clever minimalist poster that not-so-secretly reveals the movie’s original, unprintable title by placing a silhouette of a rooster above the word Blockers. (I’ll give those of you who don’t have dirty minds a moment to work it out…)
Even though going into the flick completely cold was a welcome, albeit slightly weird feeling, it also meant I only had a surface level understanding of the film’s plot. Without context, I was expecting a teen sex farce that would’ve been clichéd even in John Hughes’ 1980s heyday.
Granted, there are plenty of those stereotypical elements in the story. However, instead of treating teen sexuality – specifically young women’s sexual agency – as something to fear and repress for the sake of their own protection, the screenplay (credited to Brian and Jim Kehoe) veers into less-traveled territory. It treats young people – and eventually their parents, after a long, painful journey of self-discovery – with far more respect than I’m used to seeing in this genre.
Blockers is certainly raunchy, but it’s also astonishingly smart, well-intentioned and poignant. I certainly didn’t anticipate that a movie featuring John Cena butt-chugging a beer would also have me brushing away tears. (How’s that for a TV quote, Blockers marketing people?)
The plot is deceptively simple, meaning there will be plenty of people who miss out on a terrific flick because they dismiss it as something it’s not. The story splits its focus between three teenage girls (Kathryn Newton, Geraldine Viswanathan and Gideon Adlon) who’ve been friends since kindergarten and the parents (Cena, Leslie Mann and Ike Barinholtz) who are starting to realize that their children are now closer to adults than kids.
On prom night, which is already full of cultural importance and symbolic meaning, the girls’ burgeoning independence clashes with their parents’ overprotective nature. Still, parents can understand that it’s almost time to let their daughters go from a theoretical perspective while also freaking the heck out when they stumble upon their daughters’ pact to lose their virginity after prom. That’s a totally reasonable contradiction.
Rational parents would trust that they’ve raised amazing daughters and trust them to make the right decisions for their lives. But if that happened, there wouldn’t be a movie. Instead, the parents pinball from one crazy situation to another in an effort to stop the pact, causing more trouble as they go. Meanwhile, their daughters have the time of their lives, while also realizing that maybe they got a little carried away with their impulsive idea.
It’s sad that I’m so impressed that a modern, mainstream film gives young women agency and treats them with dignity and self-respect (save for the mid-film puke jokes, an admittedly hilarious staple of teen comedies), but here we are. Viewers spend almost two hours watching parents trying to “protect” their little girls, before both we and the parents realize that the girls don’t need saving. They’re smart, mature and perfectly capable of handling big decisions on their own. It’s a refreshing concept.
Credit to Kay Cannon, making her directorial debut after writing the Pitch Perfect films, for taking what could’ve been a lame American Pie sequel and transforming it into something much better. We’re used to romantic love stories, but there aren’t many movies (especially R-rated comedies) about the bond between parent and child. Sometimes that bond is beautiful and sometimes it’s crazy, but it’s still ripe with storytelling potential.
Cannon taps into that idea and creates a movie that’s going to hit a lot of people right in the heart. I know I was certainly doing math in my head during the screening: calculating the years until my daughters go to prom, as well as how long it would be until I could drive home and give them a giant hug.
A friend sitting next to me, who knows how crazy I am about my kids, leaned over several times and whispered, “are you okay?” For most of the running time, I was fine. But during a few scenes, especially some poignant chats near the end, no – I was most certainly not okay.
It helps that Cannon has gathered a phenomenal cast to make Blockers even more entertaining than it is on paper. Mann is playing yet another variation on the kind of character she typically portrays, but she’s so darn good at it. Even when her overprotective mom is doing something profoundly unlikeable, Mann makes her so endearing that you can’t help but root for her anyway. Barinholtz is also terrific, taking a character who is despicable (at least on the surface) and making him both hilarious and – oddly enough – frequently the voice of reason.
But the actor most people will be talking about is Cena, who apparently graduated from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s school for wrestlers who want to become funny, charismatic actors. He popped up in Trainwreck and Sisters to steal a few scenes, but he’s an unstoppable comedic force in Blockers. As a dimwitted dad who shares a sweet relationship with his daughter, he gets most of the flick’s big laughs (including the aforementioned beer scene) as well as some of the best “aww” moments.
The actresses who play the daughters are also stunningly talented. I was familiar with Newton because of her strong work on HBO’s Big Little Lies, but I was blindsided by how good Viswanathan and Adlon are. They exude charisma and it genuinely feels like all three have been friends their whole lives. I can’t wait to see how many doors this movie opens for them.
A quick glance at social media suggests Blockers might be slow to gain an audience for the same reasons I went in with low expectations. But those willing to look past a simplistic plot will be rewarded with a hilarious movie that’s far more compelling that it appears on the surface – as the film’s current 89 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes indicates. I urge you to check it out this weekend and see for yourself.
Blockers is rated R for crude and sexual content, and language throughout, drug content, teen partying, and some graphic nudity.
Grade: B+
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