We do not get many of these comedies, regarding raunchiness or sex, as there was a surging bevy of movies in the '80s and some of the '90s. We are in different times right now regarding the sexual harassment allegations taking much notice last year and continuing on. However, creators and writers of this movie wanted to take a chance on a movie of this genre but from another angle because we do not get the other side as much as the subject of sex focuses more on the teenagers. What if the parents find out if their child is planning to lose his/her virginity...on prom night? They would be men and women and mission to prevent it. What I found more promising and more entertaining about this movie was the balance between the humor surrounding the parents and the daughters that sends a good message to both adults and mature teenagers alike.
After Lisa (Leslie Mann) dropped her daughter, Julie, at her first day of school, she meets fathers Mitchell (John Cena) and Hunter (Ike Barinholtz) and they become friends as Julie, Mitchell's daughter, Kayla and Hunter's daughter, Sam, become friends too. Flash forward to the day of prom as Lisa dreading the day that Julie (Kathryn Newton) is going to college. At school, the girls discussing about losing their virginity. Julie plans to lose her virginity to her boyfriend, Austin (Graham Phillips) because she thinks it will be special. Kayla (Geraldine Viswanathan) decides to get it on with her prom date, Connor (Miles Robbins), though she cares about it less. Sam (Gideon Adlon) is hesitant because she and her prom date, Chad (Jimmy Bellinger), might not go far because she is interested in a girl named Angelica (Ramona Young).
The pre-prom party starts and Mitchell and Lisa attend and also Hunter attends uninvited in a limo he rented for the girls. Lisa and Mitchell have not spoken to Mitchell since his divorce with his ex-wife, Brenda (June Diane Raphael) and Sam is not happy with him either. Mitchell immediately dislikes Connor. Mitchell and Hunter join Lisa as she hears noises coming out of Julie's computer and sees emojis that are referencing sexual terms. After Julie writes #SexPact2018, the parents realize that they are going to lose their virginity and Lisa and Mitchell vow to stop them even though Mitchell is hesitant, he joins in the fun.
I do like this movie however I would understand some people will not like it or say it is a forgettable comedy, however, one of the reasons I liked it is I laughed a lot and there were a couple of times I laughed out loud. Yes, some jokes do not land but some jokes work and work very well. For example, it is in the trailer but the parents interpreting what the emojis mean before realizing is quite hilarious. However, I will say that the build-up to the prom is more entertaining and funny because we expect the unexpected when it comes to the comedy but during the night of prom, the writers, five to be exact, and the director, Kay Cannon, throw everything into the story and it becomes a narrative mess at times.
But, the movie is elevated by performances from both sides. From the parents' side, I think the MVP is John Cena who still continues on his momentum in comedies as he has great chemistry with both Leslie Mann and Ike Barinholtz but also Viswanathan, who I believe they were father and daughter on-screen both having heartwarming and funny moments. Leslie Mann gives her best comedic performance in a while as she endures that mother who has the trouble of letting someone go but she adds a little more flavor from her past work in comedies that has the right fit this time. Sometimes, I feel like Mann does not get much to do in other times. Here, it is a home run. And, Ike Barinholtz is good even though his character is a tad familiar. But, also, the performances from the three girls are quite great as you buy them as friends who have been from the beginning to the end and I thinks casting directors should keep an eye on Geraldine Viswanathan as she has to potential to become a young star. I did not buy the scenes with Gary Cole and Gina Gershon as they felt a bit unnecessary. I felt they were like deleted scenes added on, but funny.
Director Kay Cannon, who makes her directorial debut, balances the raunchiness with some intelligence and depth as the movie does approach heart warmth and sentimentality that is a bit on-the-nose and need a few more drafts. And, there are raunchy scenes that I still cannot get out of my head that I should not dare to spoil but it is creative. Nevertheless, it is quite crafted well with reliability and self-esteem notably in its characters that they display restraint and self-confidence in the end. 2018 has been a good year for comedies so far, and even though it is not as good as Game Night, this is still a solid, fun R-rated raunch-fest.
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