The terribly titled film Blockers is pretty much exactly what it looks like. With production credits going to Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, this Apatow-esque adult comedy hits all the touchstones: gross-out gags, hit-and-miss improvised lines, and a pinch of true human pathos. The problem lies in the glut of forgettable films attempting to recreate the huge success of Judd Apatow’s early breakouts, with Blockers landing squarely in the mediocre middle of this large category of comedies.
The film that should have been called Overprotective casts a slew of charming and likeable actors to play three parents to three teenage daughters. When the teens make a pact to lose their virginity on prom night, the nosy parents find out and make a pact to “block” this from happening. While the movie that should have been called Bad Parents acknowledges the overall creepiness and hypocrisy of this scenario, it’s mostly used as a foundation for scenes in which John Cena, Leslie Mann and Ike Barinholtz find themselves in butt-chugging and ball-grabbing hijinks while stalking their smart, capable and independent daughters.
Hollywood’s daughter du jour Kathryn Newton (Big Little Lies, Three Billboards . . .) plays the “leader of the pact,” a self-assured and strong, if not romance obsessed, woman who acts more adult than her mom, played by the lovely Leslie Mann. Her friends, however, are a little less assured about going through with “it.” Gideon Adlon struggles with coming out to her friends and dealing with her absent father, played by the amusing Ike Barenholtz. But the best and worst parts of the film that should have been called The Prom Pact come from the father-daughter pairing of John Cena and Geraldine Viswanathan. While John Cena has proven his comedy chops in other films playing up his tough-guy persona, his sensitive coach/dad character doesn’t match his Schwarzenegger physique. Conversely, Geraldine Viswanathan steals the show as his tomboy daughter with her confident quips and infectious, if ill-advised, teenage lust for life.
The rooster on the poster of Blockers not-so-subtly hints at the crude and lewd title the filmmakers wish they could have used, a shocking moniker meant to allude to the outrageous quality of the film itself. Instead, the film is left with a half-title, a non-word (outside of the NFL) that perfectly, if accidentally, captures the quality of this half-good film.
