Upon first hearing about Blockers, I was honestly disgusted. Who in their right mind would voluntarily watch an awful comedy that is set up to only have poorly-written sexual jokes? Spoiler alert: I was wrong. This film is an incredibly well-written and hilarious comedy that not only provides great messages, but has some laugh-out-loud comedy as well. I was blown away at how much I enjoyed this movie, and while it won't make it onto my list of my favorite films of all time, I loved every minute of it.
The relationships developed in this movie and its message were incredibly stand-out. We are introduced to three pairs of parents/daughters: Lisa (Leslie Mann) and her daughter Julie (Kathryn Newton), Mitchell (John Cena) and his daughter Kayla (Geraldine Viswanathan), and Hunter (Ike Barinholtz) and his daughter Sam (Gideon Adlon). These relationships were very well-developed and the actors and actresses had such great chemistry playing family. It was great to see the three different parenting styles and situations that the three girls were living in: married parents, single mom, and divorced parents. This provided for a lot of good tension to formulate between the sexual desires of the daughters and the over-protective natures of the parents (and it also provided some great cameos. i.e. Hannibal Buress). The humor in this film was hilarious, and the best of it actually came from the three daughters. The comedy surrounding them stemmed from their awkward situations at prom and at the different parties, but was very well thought-out. The parents' plot was not quite as funny, however, as the majority of it was dick or butt jokes. John Cena was still fantastic though, and I think he should take as many comedy roles as possible.
Most comedies have a very basic message: try not to get tangled up in wacky scenarios. However, this movie had a surprisingly amazing, progressive message. The parents are constantly attempting to "cock-block" their daughters during the entire film, but once they finally catch up to them, they realize that sex is not a bad thing at all. All three of them, through the interactions with their kid, learned that sex was really just a part of life and that it was up to their daughters to choose how to use their bodies. In fact, the monologue from Marcie (Sarayu Blue), Mitchell's wife, was one of the best scenes. In it, she is having an argument with Lisa about their kid's virginity. She spoke about how when guys lose their virginity it is celebrated, and when girls do it is considered a loss of innocence. This scene was very important, not only to forward the message of the movie, but for audiences to understand as well. This sex-positive message was honestly refreshing to see, especially with Hunter and his daughter Sam. Sam is trying to figure out her sexuality through the film, and when she reveals that she is gay to her father, he is nothing but accepting. This was a very sweet moment in the movie that I was truly not expecting, but I appreciated it so much. I feel the main reason why this film contained such a strong message was because it was directed by a woman, Kay Cannon. I am all for incorporating modern issues into raunchy comedies, and she did it amazingly.
Another impressive part of Blockers was its use of editing. While there were some shots that were exaggerated for humorous effect (Kayla's eyes widening after getting high), the editing worked well for this genre of film. Most notably, while the kids were in the limo and the antics that ensued when the driver was blasting classical music. However, there were some small parts of this film, that as a picky critic, bothered me. Personally, I don't find "gross humor" that funny, so during the puking scene in the limo, I had to look away. I feel that it was extended way past its welcome as the scene lasted too long. I was also bothered when the parents' car exploded after sitting still in the crevice off the side of the road. While I understand it was for comedic effect, they could have easily written some other humorous lines rather than having an unnecessary and improbable explosion.
Blockers has been one of my favorite comedies I have seen in a while (sorry, but Game Night still takes the cake). The very wholesome and well-deserved message accompanied by a cast of hysterical characters makes for a comedy that is definitely worth your time.
My Rating: ★★★★
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