Blending the right amount of crude sex humour, heartfelt sentiment and progressive messaging, Blockers is the years first big surprise complete with a breakthrough hilarious turn from wrestler turned actor John Cena.
Don’t be fooled: comedy is the hardest genre to pull off, especially in Hollywood. Remember that time when The Hangover and Bridesmaids was supposed to represent a new spring in American comedy? They were just drops of water in a vast desert, where buried are the numerous sequels, knock-offs and let downs that failed to bring the funny. Even the prima-clowns of the genre such as Will Ferrell (Get Hard) and Melissa McCarthy (Tammy) couldn’t survive such a fate.
Once in a while comes a downfall. Once in a while, comes a movie like Blockers. It’s trailer didn’t hold much promise. Yet as directed by Kay Cannon (writer of Pitch Perfect making her directorial debut) and written by Brian Kehoe (Miss Congeniality 2) and Jim Kehoe (Duress), Blockers is just the film needed for audiences to laugh, cringe, and even get a little emotional. If laughter is the best medicine, Blockers is a drug worth the price of prescription…and perhaps administered anally (but more on that weird analogy later.)
The films plot focuses on two trios. The first a group of parents – single mum Lisa (Leslie Mann), hulking house husband Mitchell (John Cena), and divorced Hunter (Ike Barinholtz) – and their respective daughters – sweetheart Julie (Kathy Newman), sporty Kayla (Geraldine Viswanathan), and stuck in the closet Sam (Gideon Adlon). Prom night has come, and the girls have made a pact to lose their virginity. So far, so ‘80s teen movie. Yet a twist is thrown into the proceedings, when their dotting parents get wise on the “#sexpact” and decide to take chase with a plan to sabotage the potential deflowering.
Such lowbrow hijinks usually don’t work. But under Cannon’s direction, and with the spirited performances of its cast, Blockers wins its audience over one sex-filled, gross out gag after another. The highlight of which is WWE superstar turned (rather good) actor John Cena (Blockers is his biggest profile gig yet) chugging a beer through the place where the sun doesn’t shine. Make no mistake, it is an hilarious moment of humour and humiliation that will rank high with the likes of American Pie and There’s Something About Mary in the gross out comedy stakes.
It’s the sincerity of the characters motivations that makes it all work so well. While these parents are beyond crazy in the overprotected sense of duty, their hearts are most definitely in the right place, and it shows in the performances. Mann, Barinholtz, and especially Cena as a weeping muscle-bound dad, portray their characters with personality and empathy.
Equally important is the progressiveness found in the teen characters. As one-character states: “This is 2018”, and long gone are the old-hat comedy attitudes towards sex and sexuality. Blockers makes the case that while, yes, we are living in an overly sexualised society, within it are people whether 17 or 47 that have the character and the freedom to handle such decision with confidence. There’s something important in that.
