Director: Benjamin Kasulke
Writer: Hannah Marks, Joey Power (Screenplay)
Starring: Hannah Marks, Liana Liberato, Dylan Sprouse, Luke Spencer Roberts, Meagan Kimberly Smith
Plot: Over the course of a summer, two teenage girls develop the perfect kindred spirit friendship, with one big problem: one of them is dating the other’s ex.
Runtime: 1 Hour 28 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Banana Split starts as we see the perfect high school relationship between April (Marks) and Nick (Sprouse), which after 2-years falls apart when they are looking into colleges, April isn’t doing well after the break up, while Nick starts dating Clara (Liberato).
When Clara and April meet at a party, the two end up become close friends, keeping their friendship a secret from Nick, while preparing for the next stage of their lives.
Thoughts on Banana Split
Characters – April has been part of a perfect relationship with Nick for 2 years until they break up, she does struggle with the break up, but knows she is moving away to college soon, she ends up making friends with Nick’s new girlfriend, even if she wants to be with him again, she is facing the reality of moving on to college without the happy ending to her high school experience, needing the friendship she never had. Clara is the new girl in town, the new girlfriend of Nick’s and soon to be new best friend to April, the two connect like nobody has with April before. Nick is the boy that both the girls have or are dating, he doesn’t seem to have his life together either, while still being open to friendships, than he lets on.
Performances – Hannah Marks and Liana Liberato are both great in this film, they show excellent chemistry in friendship, while also highlighting the awkwardness of being in the same place with the Nick character. Dylan Sprouse works well as the boyfriend who doesn’t seem to know what he wants in life.
Story – The story here follows an unlikely friendship that grows between two high school girls that just so happen to be the ex and current girlfriend of the same boy. The story might well put a lot of focus on the growing friendship between April and Clara, you can see deep down we are following three people that all know that after the summer, they will be facing a new life, one away from each other in college, which will be the beginning of the next stage of their lives, lives they don’t really know what they want or where they will be going next in. a lot of the friendship and keeping it a secret does work well, with the middle man getting uncomfortable and knowing what will happen next too, but by the end they will all get to grow as people being prepared for what is next… the unknown.
Comedy – The comedy the film comes from seeing how the girls friendship grows, with odd things happening around them along with funny arguments that they have in life with family.
Settings – The film gives us the LA setting, which does automatically add some glitz to the high school world, which again always looks more over the top than anything you would expect to see from my own experiences in school, but outside the school, we hit the highlights of the area, including the beauty spots overlooking the city.
Scene of the Movie – Make Up.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – There does seem to be a big mystery about what has made Clara move here, that we don’t learn anything about.
Final Thoughts – Banana Split is an enjoyable comedy about growing up, getting laughs and having excellent performances from the constantly rising stars of Hannah Marks and Liana Liberato.
