Review of Blockers (2018) by Lane Z — 22 Jul 2018

From one of Hollywood's new screenwriter/producers of the Pitch Perfect series turned first-time director Kay Cannon, Blockers was a nice little fluff comedy rooted in a pretty familiar cause plaguing homes filled with graduating teenagers, which actually creates some good physical comedy to say the least. The Kehoe brothers, Jim and Brian, show their hand in their first big film. Not surprisingly, with Leslie Mann attached, Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogan (and probably a smidge of Judd Apatow) are present in the credits. If you pick this up for anything, let it be their track record.

John Cena has done the complete opposite route of The Rock Dwayne Johnson. Instead of clamoring for major action pieces, Cena has gone the route of comedy more often than not. It suits him well. While his role as overbearing sports father is a little one dimensional, he plays the part with aplomb despite not having much range. Mann is always the rock-solid member of the cast in smaller films like this, and she rises again to the motherly role among some fresh, young actors from Cena to the kids they cast. Ike Barinholtz is mostly here for slapstick, but he nestles into his role quite easily having also been a veteran in comedy movies like this. While these three certainly are the bulk of why you see this movie, the three teens don't quite get to be seen enough to be the stars. Blockers is clearly built to have the adults as the main characters.

The plot is pretty straightforward. Teenagers want to have sex on prom night and parents try to stop them once they learn of the plan. I would classify this as a soft comedy with sparks of smartness; it really touches on a myriad of different familial styles like single mothers, single fathers, and a traditional nuclear family.

With some wisps of laugh-out-loud humor, a few goofy cameos, and a trio you can back from the start, Blockers is an enjoyable enough Sunday Funday film. It will leave you wondering what could have been had someone with more experience behind the pages and camera had made this film, but the skeleton is there.