There are enough movies praising teen coming-of-age and sexual freedom, so the appeal here is the realistic notion that many parents are going to want to stifle that. Unfortunately, it tries presenting both sides of the story and loses its uniqueness when it goes away from parents trying to ruin that coming-of-age.
Blockers follows three parents, played by John Cena, Leslie Mann, and Ike Barinholtz, try to stop their teenage daughters from losing their virginities on prom night after they find out that the three girls make a pact to do so.
It’s a great concept, but you wish the screen time wasn’t so split between parents and kids. We aren’t flooded with the parents’ perspective in all those other movies about prom night, so why do we need to see the children’s perspective here? When we think we’re about to watch the concept flipped on its head, we really aren’t.
Instead of presenting to us a realistic take on what would actually happen in this situation, it makes a very on-the-nose political statement with a liberal agenda. And it all happens so abruptly. Like it realizes that it might offend some people if it actually takes the plot to where no movie has gone before. It’s raunchy when it’s convenient, but then convinces itself that it’s heartwarming even when it’s not.
It’s like the filmmakers wanted to give us two different movies and figured it would be cheaper to put them into one.
Even from a comedic standpoint, we wish there were more of the parents and less of the kids. The scenes with the kids are cringy. Not because the content is crude, but because the acting is so bad. Two of the three girls are just plain obnoxious.
The three adults have a great dynamic. John Cena is finally a revelation. His delivery and timing isn’t perfect, but he’s still very funny. His voice and face make almost every line work regardless, truly driving the film.
Considering the cast, we might be skeptical about how funny Blockers might be. There aren’t any marquee comedians fronting this project. Just a gang-of-misfits cast of actors. Barinholtz is the source of most of the jokes, while Mann grounds the group in the perfect way.
While the conclusion of the story bothers me, the road there is fairly entertaining and has some pretty great moments. It’s just a shame it couldn’t stay true to its creative premise.
The Twizard 