Director: Kay Cannon
Writer: Brian Kehoe, Jim Kehoe (Screenplay)
Starring: Leslie Mann, John Cena, Ike Barinholtz, Kathryn Newton, Geraldine Viswanathan, Gideon Adlon
Plot: Three parents try to stop their daughters from losing their virginity on prom night.
Tagline – Teens Out to Have Fun. Parents Out to Stop It.
Runtime: 1 Hour 42 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Laugh Out Loud Comedy
Story: Blockers starts as three parents Lisa (Mann), Mitchell (Cena) and Hunter (Barinholtz) whose children all start school the same day, making them become friends. When the three girls reach the prom age, Julie (Newton), Kayla (Viswanathan) and Sam (Adlon), the parents will need to face the biggest change in their lives.
Prom night arrives and the parents learn that their daughter all plan on losing their virginity on this night, leading the to parents working together to try and stop this happening.
Thoughts on Blockers
Characters – Lisa is the single mother of Julie, she has built the relationship with her daughter wanting to be part of every stage of her life. She doesn’t believe her daughter keeps any secrets, until this night as she must realizes she will see her daughter go off to college. Mitchell is the father of Kayla, he is a married man who has seen his daughter excel at sports, he is extra protective of his daughter much like the generic big father figure. Hunter is the deadbeat father that wants to make this night the best night of his daughter’s life, he isn’t liked because of his actions towards his wife and now he must join the fellow parents to stop the events of the night. Julie is the daughter of Lisa, she has been planning her prom night seemingly for her whole life wanting to movie version of losing her virginity. Kayla has been brilliant at sports her whole life, she is getting tired of this world and wants to start trying drugs and drink, she is more spontaneous than the other two girls. Sam is the daughter of Hunter, she is sexually confused as she doesn’t know how to come out to her friends, she seems to fold to the pressure of the losing of virginity on this night though.
Performances – Leslie Mann has been hitting it out the park in comedy for years, this is no different, John Cena is brilliant here, showing he has comic timing even showing heart with certain scenes in the film. Ike Barinholtz gets strong laughs too even if his character does feel like just a third wheel. The three young actresses Kathryn Newton, Geraldine Viswananthan and Gideon Adlon all bring strong performances in the film.
Story – The story follows three parents that learn their three daughters are going to lose their virginity on prom night and plan to stop them. That is the core side of the story, but we do address a lot of serious growing up situations, both from the girls point of view and the parents point of view. This must be praised because each side of the side story feels like the most important ones because parents will become scared when their children grow up. The whole race around does feel over the top with these parties all seeming like it would be too much for a prom.
Comedy – The comedy in the film comes from how the reactions of the parents as they try to stop things happening, each thing goes wrong with comical effects.
Settings – The film takes us around the town, first the prom in a hotel (I think), then a random lake house which didn’t seem to be by a lake, before going to another massive hotel which is set for a big party. The settings do get used for laughs, though it does feel like too much for a prom night.
Scene of the Movie – The hotel.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – These kids can drink way too much for someone that age.
Final Thoughts – This is an enjoyable comedy that will get plenty of laughs, sadly, it pointless goes into the drug references, but you will get a good laugh through the film.
Overall: Enjoyable comedy.
Rating
