Blockers: A girl version of American Pie with a parental twist
By John Dotson
In Blockers, three parents set out to stop their kids from having intercourse on prom night. The result is an inventive spin on teen sex comedies, but is it too raunchy for its own good?
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The teen sex comedy genre is not the most inspired category of film, but when done right it can achieve some major laughs. The issue with the genre stems from the fact that watching a bunch of hormone raging boys trying to lose their virginity is funny– but it’s a tired out trope. Luckily, Blockers is here to reinvent people’s perspectives and remind everyone, girls want to have fun too. As long as their parents do not get in their way.
The film centers around three parents– played by John Cena, Leslie Mann, and Ike Barinholtz– whose children have grown up together since their first days of school. In the film, we see the parents become close friends through the relationship of their daughters. Several years later, their kids are older, about to head off to college, as well as attend prom.
All three parents suffer from different parental issues with their kids. John Cena plays the overprotective father that believes his kid can’t make her own wise decisions. Leslie Mann is the single mom who is way too clingy with her daughter. Ike Barinholtz is the dad who has made mistakes by not being around as much after a divorce removes him from the home.
In the film, their daughters make a pact to lose their virginity at prom, but unbeknownst to them, the texts messages involving their plans are being transmitted to a laptop at home. All three parents discover the messages and go on a full-fledged mission to stop their daughters from having sex.
What makes this film so different from most is its ability to comment on the specifics of gender. Writer and director Kay Cannon (Pitch Perfect) aims to show men are not the only ones with high sex drives, and that women also possess these traits as well. The movie even makes fun of the idea that talking about this with young women is in some way inappropriate, because no one hesitates to comment on the subject with young men. It shows how parents themselves often see young women as too delicate for the topic.
Additionally, the movie is enhanced by the subplot surrounding the hilarious chase involving the parents. John Cena and crew bring some major laughs throughout this film, getting into increasingly complicated scenarios as they try to find their children, making half of this movie feel like a parent version of The Hangover. You should be warned though, some of the sequences get extremely raunchy.
The talk of the film though will undoubtedly be John Cena. This guy has come a long way since his days of doing The Marine and 12 Blocks. He hasn’t fully morphed into the superstar Dwayne Johnson has become, but he is showing early signs of breaking out into a memorable actor. He holds his own among some of the funniest people in the industry in this movie, and that is absolutely impressive.
This will be the first film in a long time that both parents and teens can enjoy because it touches on the push-pull relationships kids share with adults. We all want the best for our children while letting them learn from their own mistakes. Blockers does an okay job of trying to depict the tightrope parents walk between caring and being overprotective. The end result might be an over-the-top raunchy demonstration of such discussions, but it’s one with a lot of heart.
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Overall, Blockers might get excessively raunchy for some viewers but the film has a touching message at its juvenile core. It’s a film that does not mind making fun of itself while simultaneously reinventing old comedic tropes. Writer and director Kay Cannon has made a teen sex comedy that both grown-ups, as well as young women can enjoy.
Blockers is now in theaters everywhere.