28 March 2018

It’s not often you go see a comedy where the whole theatre is cracking up laughing, but that is the effect new Universal Pictures’ American comedy blockbuster Blockers has on you.

Directed by Kay Cannon
Starring Leslie Mann, John Cena, Ike Barinholtz

When we arrived at the screening, we were the oldest by about 20 years and wondered if the younger generation would understand the complexities faced by parents dealing with teenage daughters. By the level audible laughter and even bursts of clapping, we should not have worried!

The premise of the movie is simple and effective; three parents (to long time inseparable school-friend daughters) lose the plot when they discover via emojis (eggplant, drooly face #SexPact2018) that their daughters who do everything together are also all planning to lose their virginity on Prom night. A crazy rampage ensues to try to stop this from occurring. Led by a talented cast including Leslie Mann (The Other Woman), John Cena (The 40-year-old Virgin) and Ike Barinholtz (Neighbours) it follows the journey the parents face when confronted by their own demons.

Blockers does a great job of packaging up the message that for a girl losing one’s virginity is sacred in a very light hearted manner; looking at it from the daughters’ perspectives and how they embrace their own sexuality and take control to finally make their own decisions.

That’s really where the moral dilemmas end though as the film is a comedy and focusses on the hilarious and often gross attempts made by the parents to ‘save’ their children. That’s where Cena stands out as the paranoid father, that, despite his size, can be brought to tears when feeling slightly challenged. He rationalises everything even when being deluded about what he is actually doing.

Mann brings a neurotic overbearing motherly ‘Lisa’ to life, playing the anxious persona perfectly!

The real gem in this movie was Barinholtz (Jimmy in Neighbours), a divorced father who was the most insightful of the three and played the part of the father desperately trying to forge a relationship with this daughter after years of neglect.

There is plenty to laugh about; from the girls getting drunk, stoned and having a ‘team’ throw up session in the back of a hired limousine, to the antics of the liberal parents of the boyfriend in a bid to keep their own love life spicy.

It’s a sex-filled, gross, sharp and witty comedy that also manages to be completely lovely and heart-warming. A great date night movie for parents.

See Blockers in cinemas now.