Blockers (2018) Film Review

What if American Pie was with girls and that the parents wanted to stop the girls have sex? Mix in pro-wrestler John Cena and a funny butt chugging scene, you have Blockers, but so much more.

Three high school girls go the prom with the intention to lose their virginity. Their protective parents find out about their sex pact and intend to stop them. Leslie Mann plays the cool mum and overly attached parent that doesn’t want her daughter to leave her home. Ike Barinholtz plays the detached, divorced, deadbeat father who tries to be ‘down with the kids’ and then there is John Cena who plays the very protective and sporty Dad that gets overly emotional when it comes to his daughter.

There is a lot of comparisons to American Pie, with the vow to lose your virginity on prom night. On that basis of plot that is true but Blockers is much more layered then that. American Pie’s demographic mainly centred around teens and young adults but Blockers demographic is much broader than that. This film can be watched by parents as this over protective anxiety must be more relevant then prom night sexual conquest to the general audience. The parents viewpoint in the film take centre stage here.

First of, the three girls are fantastic and the chemistry between the three are amazing. They are not hyper-exaggerateds version of high school stereotypes. They are just ‘normal’ high school girls. However it is the three parents that steal the show. Leslie Mann is good as always, she has a few funny scenes and plays the overly attached mum to perfection. John Cena shines here, his Hollywood career will be bolstered by this performance. The butt chugging scene and a scene involving him and Baronholtz and a sexual escapade got me out of my seat laughing. A lot of pro-wrestlers transition to Hollywood and very few succeed. Usually they are just blanket action stars but John Cena transition to comedy seems so natural.

The stand out star is by far is Ike Barinholtz who plays deadbeat father, Hunter. He has played a lot of roles in TV but hopefully this will propel his film career because this guy needs more roles soon. The one scene that got me to watch this film was the YAS QUEEN! scene and even though I have watched that one scene on YouTube a million times, it was still hilarious. Being the deadbeat Dad, Barinholtz had a lot to play with and he took that freedom and stole every scene he was in.  Blockers has a fantastic script and in the hands of this cast it can easily be called one of the funniest film of the past few years.

Where Blockers does stand above all the other comedies in this specific genre is that the film has a heart. It is not just a gross out, slapstick fuore into the hormonal world of teenagers. Even though the parents are wrong to try and stop them from having sex, there intentions were always meant to be good. The film has a few diversions from the conventional, sex is not always the end goal and some of the resolutions are more real than most cinematic fare. Not to say it is full of sentimentality, there is still sex, vomit and butt chugging and that is not to say that it is a bad thing.

This film has the possibility to be a springboard for many actors and the director, Kay Cannon, in her directorial debut. I was hugely surprised of how much this made me laugh. Blockers has a lot of laughs and a little bit of heart. A refreshing take on a worn out genre, the cast are amazing and a great watch for teenagers and parents alike. One of the funniest film I have seen in past 5 years.

 

Rating – ★★★★