Apparently, Blockers, the directorial debut of Pitch Perfect writer Kay Cannon, went through a title change and a variety of rewrites before it hit the screen. The end result is a witty teenage farce that adds more nuance to its younger characters than most of its contemporaries.
The three high school girlfriends who make a pact to throw away their virginity on their prom night certainly have plenty of crazy moments in their own right, but it’s mainly their obsessive and overprotective parents who carry the bulk of the comedy.
Julie (Kathryn Newton), her bespectacled friend Sam (Gideon Adlon) and their jockish pal Kayla (Geraldine Viswanathan) are poised and primed to have the night of their lives during the big dance. Sam promises the other two that the laid-back stoner Connor (Miles Robbins) will cross home plate with her, while Julie hopes her boyfriend Austin (Graham Phillips) will do the same. But even though Sam is going with her fedora-sporting nerd friend Chad (Jimmy Bellinger), she actually has a secret crush on an enigmatic girl named Angelica (Ramona Young).
Though she doesn’t know it, Sam’s father Hunter (Ike Barinholtz) is aware her daughter is gay. A prologue shows Hunter meeting Julie and Kayla’s parents, the worrying mother Lisa (Leslie Mann) and the sports-fixated softie Mitchell (John Cena), during the three girls’ first day at elementary.
The trio and their families have remained close to this day, in spite of Hunter’s friction between his ex-wife (June Diane Raphael) and Sam’s new stepdaughter Frank (a slyly witty Hannibal Buress).
He’s not as willing to go along with Lisa and Mitchell’s plan to stop their kids when they discover Julie’s text app on their laptop detailing their plan. But in a funny display of acceptance, he then becomes paranoid that Chad is suppressing her daughter’s true sexual identity, and joins the three in a mad chase after the girls involving lots of sex, drugs, booze, car chases and mayhem.
Mann’s Lisa is naggy but still endearing, willing to commando roll across the floor to spy on her daughter. She has some surprisingly poignant scenes as her character confronts her insecurities, as does Barinholtz as Hunter who is comically pathetic. John Cena’s constant bewilderment and awkwardness as Mitchell earns some of the biggest laughs in the film.
His character only knows how to truly express himself through athleticism, and any sort of odd situation results in Hank Hill-like discomfort for him (“Play sports!”, he exclaims to a random group of role players in the hotel). Some of his highlights include getting himself reluctantly involved in a “butt-chugging” beer contest and being caught between a nude blindfolded sex play with his neighbors.
As the story builds towards its climax, Cannon directs each conclusion with a mix of heart and humor. The resolutions do feel genuine and legitimately affectionate, but they’re always delivered with a tinge of irreverence.
This movie is unabashedly dirty and sex-fixated, yet the comedy has a layer of intelligence to it. A scene where Mitchell’s wife Marcie (Sarayu Blue) chastises Lisa for her hypocritical and regressive attitude towards her daughter’s sexuality provides us some good acting on the part of Leslie Mann, but soon the chase is back on.
One thing I appreciated about the tone of Blockers was how it didn’t feel the need to vilify either side too badly. On one hand, I can side with the girls and their desire for a sense of freedom and agency, but the parents are written with a good deal of heart and genuine empathy for their kids- as ridiculous as their behavior is throughout the film. And the story is also mindful to put forth the idea that maybe these kids really are getting in over their heads, and probably should think things through. When your night involves projectile vomiting and an exploding vehicle at one point, maybe you’ve gone a little overboard.
If this film is the future of lowbrow teen-focused sex comedies, I’m all for Blockers leading a revolution against lesser entries in that category. It’s lewd and crude to be sure, but it has a degree of wit and awareness to it that will appeal to both its target demographic and their parents as well, more than willing to affectionately satire both. A solid recommendation on my end, and be sure to drop us a line at @officialFAN of Twitter if you’ve had the chance to see it!