Blockers

Have I mentioned that comedy is my favorite genre? I love comedies because I love to laugh. When I saw my first trailer of "Blockers", I actually didn't think it would be an effectively well put together film, so I put it off for a week. Well, I thought I'd give it a try and my first impression was accurate.

 

When three parents, Lisa (Leslie Mann), Hunter (Ike Barinholtz) and Mitchell (John Cena) stumble upon their daughters' pact to lose their virginity at their prom, they decide to launch a covert one-night operation to stop the teens from sealing the deal. You see, both Lisa and Mitchell happen to hear Julie's (Kathryn Newton) computer as it was sending texts, so when they went to her room, they noticed that she had inadvertently left the computer open for all to see--namely her mom, Lisa. So, do these parents succeed in their plot to foil their daughters' night out with their respective boyfriends, or do the parents totally screw up their plan?

 

Others to round out the cast are Geraldine Viswanathan as Kala, Gideon Adlon as Sam, Miles Robbins as Connor, Graham Phillips as Austin, Jimmy Bellinger as Chad, Ramona Young as Angelica, Hannibal Buress as Frank and Colton Dunn as Rudy.

 

This was directed by newcomer to the director's chair, Kay Cannon. Her experience lies in the realm of writing. She was behind the penning of the "Pitch Perfect" films and has written much for TV. Considering the "Pitch Perfect" films were not expressly well written, maybe she should stay in the directing realm. This was certainly well directed considering she has never helmed a film or any TV shows. She nailed the desperation depicted by the parents spot on, so much so, that it seamed real. Where this film had trouble was with the writing as with most comedies of this type. It was written by Brian Kehoe ("Overachievers" '05) plus TV and a short, and Jim Kehoe ("Overachievers" '05, "Duress" '09) plus TV and a short. It constantly evades me of why so many comedies have to be laced with gratuitous sex, drugs and four-letter words as much as many of them do? This film actually had a potentially funny premise to work with, but with all the gratuitousness it had, it simply took away from what would've been a funny and entertaining flick. Although the beginning of the film was actually well thought out and progressed with amazing timing, it eventually wound up going down the toilet with a banal script loaded with gratuity of all sorts. Hollywood has a shortsightedness that simply amazes me--why don't they spend a little more money and get a seasoned writer or two that might be costly initially, but would end up giving them a much better return on their investment. It wasn't a total wash--both John Cena and Leslie Mann gave us some fairly funny lines and had a good presence, but this script needed polish.

 

If this type of 'comedy' is something you like or are used to, you certainly won't be surprised, however if a well written script is more to your liking, Netflix this if you must view it. It had some worthy actors in it. It's just a shame that they had to endure this vehicle.

 

Out of 4 Stars: 2                                       Rated: R                                         102mins.