Blockers is a US comedy with a coming-of-age kind of vibe but in a crass and trashy way, rather than that charming way of, say, Juno or Ladybird.
The film follows the attempts of three parents, Lisa (Leslie Mann), Mitchell (John Cena - an underestimated actor in my view) and Hunter (Ike Barinholtz) to 'c**k block' their three daughters who are hurtling towards prom night with plans to lose their virginity. Cue slapstick gags involving alcohol, genitalia etc.
I had seen the trailer a few times before I saw this film and figured it probably wasn't for me. In light of that, I put a caveat on my invitation to a friend to come along to the preview with me. "It looks s**t" or something along those lines, if memory serves. It was actually so bad that I leaned over to her during the film and said "I'm so sorry". She didn't like it either.*
To be fair, there was definitely some laughs - I'm not too proud to admit I don't mind slapstick. But the story was just so lame, it was hard to go with it. There's no issues with the performances of the three main parents or the three daughters, all unfamiliar faces.
I guess the only other thing I could muster in its defense is that the three teenage girls are all portrayed as powerful, with a significant degree of control over their bodies and decisions.
I've wondered if it's just that I'm not in the target audience but I suspect there's too much emphasis on the annoying parents for this to be popular with teenagers and too much bodily fluid-based 'humour' for it to appeal to parents.
Maybe when it pops up on Netflix if you fall into one of those categories...? I certainly wouldn't pay $21 to see it at a cinema.
Here's a complimentary (3 stars) review from The Guardian if you want to know more about the film from someone who enjoyed it more than me.
Blockers is in cinemas from 29 March. Trailer here.
*Regular readers will know I don't use a star system but I often ask people I take along to previews how many stars they'd give a film out of five to help me understand how much they enjoyed it. In this case I said I'd give it about 2 and my friend said it'd only be 1 or 1.5 for her. So, y'know, we both thought it was really ordinary.