Blockers

This could be the worst "comedy" I have ever seen. The writers threw every stupid gag and joke in the book at this stupid story and still came up empty. You might get a couple of laughs out of it but only because you become desperate to laugh at anything. Don't waste your time or money.

"Blockers" (R, 1:42) is a comedy directed by Kay Cannon (writer and producer of the "Pitch Perfect" movies, but making her directorial debut here) and written by Brian Kehoe and Jim Kehoe (2005's "Overachievers"). In one 12-hour period, the story has raunchy fun with both teenage and adult sexuality, with adult and high school relationships also providing comic fodder - parent and teen, teens with each other and parents among themselves - while being reflective of the times in which we live. Lisa (Leslie Mann), Hunter (Ike Barinholtz) and Mitchell (John Cena) are connected with each other because of the close, long-time friendship of their daughters, Julie (Kathryn Newton), Sam (Gideon Aldon) and Kayla (Geraldine Viswanathan), now high school seniors. Lisa is a lonely single mom who is unusually close to her daughter, Hunter is divorced from his daughter's mother and tries to be a fun and completely supportive absentee parent, while Mitchell is an overprotective, overly sentimental dad. On the day of the high school prom, Julie tells her friends at lunch that she has decided to give her virginity to her boyfriend that night after the dance. Kayla quickly and enthusiastically embraces the idea for herself and her date. Sam is a bit more hesitant, seeming to have her mind on something else, but eventually decides to follow suit and - just like that - a "sex pact" is formed. Julie, Sam and Kayla and their dates gather at Sam's house for some pre-prom pics, while their parents exchange pleasantries in Sam's back yard. But things change after the kids leave, when an open computer reveals the girls' plans for the evening. This sends Lisa, Hunter and Mitchell into a panic, leading them to chase their daughters around town, trying to keep them from doing what these three parents believe would be a big mistake. "Blockers" is very funny... and crude and open-minded and empowering. The laughs come from the antics of these well-meaning, but clueless parents, the ridiculous situations they get themselves into, and sexual and gross-out humor involving the girls' quest and their parents'... anti-quest. The story emphasizes the teens' need to make their own decisions regarding their sexual behavior - and the parents' need to come to terms with that - one way or another. Individual Movie Fans may not appreciate such a frank portrayal of teen sexuality and sexual autonomy, but it's not exploitive and it is thought-provoking and even a little touching, while being humorous. (It's funny enough for the laughter in a crowded auditorium to drown out some of the lines of dialog which follow an especially comical incident.) The characterizations of the adults are mainly one-dimensional (not entirely inappropriate, given that the three girls drive the plot), while the teenage characters are interesting and the actresses play them very well. Overall, this movie is fairly original and well-balanced and very entertaining. "A-"

Blockers is one of the funniest and best comedies in years. I want to get that statement out of the way first. Three girls who have been best friends since elementary school agree to each have sex with their dates on prom night. Their parents catch wind of the plan and decide that they must stop this from happening. They play the role of blockers. That's really all you need to know about the plot. This movie is fueled by the characters, all of which are more layered than they first seem. Look out for Ike Barinholtz's moment in the third act. And John Cena's. And Leslie Mann's. Heck, every featured character has at least one impressive dramatic moment. But let's be clear-this is a comedy. Several scenes in this movie had me absolutely cracking up, and I was far from the only viewer laughing that hard. One guy started wheezing and even exclaimed, "oh man, this is too much; I can't breathe!" Then the crowd laughed even more. All of this uproarious laughter from a movie that contains no comedy stars. It's rare. Btw, I have nothing but love for Leslie Mann (a comedy standout, not quite a star) and John Cena (a star, perhaps, but not yet for his comedy). Then I realized something. There are comedy stars in this movie. They just haven't become stars yet. What I'm saying is, remember the names and faces from this movie, especially the three daughters. In a few years you will look back and see this as their breakout moment. In addition to the humor, which is abundant, this movie has quite a bit of heart. That's what takes it up a level. Each parent-daughter relationship feels real and lived in. This helps viewers who are not already parents themselves understand what these parents are going through. When one daughter asks why sex is so bad (a totally reasonable question), her dad stammers for a moment, then says he doesn't know. It's tough to explain. The movie wisely doesn't take this conversation any further. If it had, the conversation would have become preachy. Her dad has an answer, but it's a long, complicated and messy one. The scene (and the movie) works better without attempting to provide this messy explanation. That's a line that the writers walk carefully and successfully. They say just enough to provide both sides of thought on why the parents want so desperately to stop their daughters. Are they wrong to manically chase their daughters down? Well, yeah. Are they wrong to want to protect them? Not at all. That's what this blocking attempt is really about. Protecting their daughters. To the parents, sex is a step into adulthood and all its problems. They just want their daughters to stay safe and innocent as long as they can. It's a warm message that works because it never patronizes viewers. This movie is much smarter than it looks in the trailer. I certainly didn't expect to laugh this much, think this much, or feel a lump in my throat when I saw promos for Blockers. But I did. And now I'm giving it a strong recommendation. Go see Blockers. It's a hilarious story that also manages to make you care.

I'll be honest, I knew about this movie months in advance, and the preview made it look terrible. Then, on top of this, whenever I watched tv, ads for this movie would run during the commercials, and they were insufferable. I thought this movie was going to be absolute garbage(because that's what the previews made it out to be) and was kind of annoyed when my friends picked this of all movies to see. The theatre was almost empty, even though it was only day 2 of it being out. I'm guessing everyone else saw the ads and decided not to see it. Anyway, to my utmost surprise, the movie actually turned out to be quite decent. I laughed throughout the movie. And it actually did have somewhat of a plot, and it was original humour, as opposed to the cheap sex and weed jokes that I expected it to be from watching the previews. It's a shame. I feel that because they ran so many terrible ads for this movie that a lot of people will never get to experience this movie.