One of the more mainstream outings at this year’s SXSW, Blockers is a high concept comedy about three parents trying to stop their daughters losing their virginity on prom night.
Starring Leslie Mann as Julie’s (Kathryn Newton) doting single mother, Ike Barinholtz as Sam’s (Gideon Adlon) absent father, divorced from her mother, and John Cena as Kayla’s (Geraldine Viswanathan) super-macho, super-emotional father, Blockers flips the focus, with the teen boys sidelined, and instead the focus is on three daughters, who are by far and away the best thing about the film.
As the kids each line someone up to lose their virginity to on prom night, the parents are always one step behind, embroiled in a series of mishaps along the way. From crashing a car that ends up bolt upright on it’s front bumper, to a crude keg drinking game, unfortunately the laughs broadly fall flat with each set-piece being so utterly ludicrous, and the jokes relying on crass humour rather than smart writing.
There are a couple of moments where the jokes do play out to good effect (namely Ike Barinholtz and John Cena playing handsy with two blindfolded, kinky parents of another classmate), but the success rate is far below what you need from this sort of comedy. The awkward relationships between parents and children go some way to papering over the cracks, but the film can’t really balance out the crass comedy and warm and fuzzy moments.
Blockers relies on raising the stakes at every turn, but it’s very formulaic stuff, a sha me since the central conceit could have allowed for a lot more, especially from a proven comedic talent in director Kay Cannon, perhaps she should have had a crack at the script too.