When good girls drive their parents mad
BLOCKERS
Starring: Kathryn Newton, John Cena, Leslie Mann, Ike Barinholtz, Gideon Adlon, Geraldine Viswanathan.
One last bid to stop three first times
IN the new comedy Blockers, an age-old clash of generations is reactivated in the interests of generating multiple moments of mirth and mayhem.
On one side stands three partying teens giving in to urges they cannot deny. On the other side, there is a trio of panicking parents in a state of denial they cannot hide.
For the most part, Blockers succeeds wildly, whipping up waves of laughter from a setup that could have struggled to make any kind of ripple.
Sure, it does have its flat spots. Nevertheless, the feeling a winning zinger might be about to happen never goes away.
What gives Blockers a consistent ability to amuse is its refreshing new take on the teen sex comedy, and its obvious accessibility.
The three BFFs (Kathryn Newton, Gideon Adlon, Geraldine Viswanathan) who have made a pact to lose their virginity on prom night are sensible, smart and female.
Throughout movie history, that job has traditionally gone only to males with low IQs and high libidos.
Meanwhile, the parents (Leslie Mann, John Cena, Ike Barinholtz) who have made it their business to lose their mind, represent almost every adult with a teenage daughter.
The action takes place across one busy evening, after the dutiful daughters have departed for the prom.
One has left open a messaging app on a home computer. One of their parents knows enough about the suggestive nature of emoticons to ascertain the girls are not planning to end the evening with a polite peck on the cheek from their dates.
What follows is a Superbadish journey into a night packed with surprises of an alternately seedy, sweet and surreal nature.
There are some out-there, in-your-face, can’t-unsee-that sequences that do earn the MA15+ rating, but nothing an endearingly game cast cannot sell to doubters with ease.