Three decades after “When Harry Met Sally” asked if men and women can be friends, yet another romantic comedy asks the same thing for contemporary college kids. But instead, in director Jordan Weiss’s “Sweethearts,” which is about two best friends who leave behind their hometown romances over a weekend break, the titular inquiry does not arise until the final scenes while another pair of screwball-comedy plots remains unresolved. Although featuring a talented cast and resonant messages on self-esteem and non-sexual friendship, it feels like two half-cooked movie scripts rolled into one with very weak ties.
There is a sense of destiny in Ben (Nico Hiraga) and Jamie (Kiernan Shipka)’s friendship; they have been best friends since childhood, and they both want to keep it that way as adults, starting with college. However, around this strong relationship comes a world full of complexities from Tyler the guy that treats Ben like trash to Kelly her roommate who has tried many times to drag her out of shyness. Even their love life causes them grief. He can’t even go two minutes without talking to Claire his horny high school-aged girlfriend who takes advantage of him while he’s away at college. She often gets annoyed by Simon her silly jock boyfriend whenever he asks for sexts or movie nights together. They’ve just had enough and now they are the most unpopular kids in class.
To be able to fit in well and this time start afresh, Ben and Claire plan to distance themselves from Simon and Claire as they travel back home to Ohio for thanksgiving. They decided that they would throw a small coming out party at Palmer’s (Caleb Hearon) when he returns from France where he had been living. However, things did not go as planned right from the start of the split day with them encountering various hitches include a bus ride with a loud passenger eavesdropper (Stavros Halkias) who is obnoxious on top of it all as well as meeting an old crush who is too much excited (Kate Pittard). They are also unable to locate their better halves before dumping them. In addition, Palmer has some diversions on his trip such as finding out that there exists a queer bowling league at home attended by Coach Reese (Tramell Tillman), his former high school coach.
Dan Brier, his co-writer, and Weiss use the formulas of “one wild night” teenage comedy with minor changes to make it look new. A dull French party turns out to be a really good occasion for Claire and Simon, not one of those super cool house parties which come later during climax. In fact she did not even bully her but forgave her and became friends again as shown by Sophie Zucker another traumatic friend from Jamie’s past. Rather than an expensive car, they are made to steal a dorky cherry red tandem bike on Ben and Jaime’s part. One of the most intelligent moves in the film is when Ben is caught by a massive bouncer, Darius ‘Nastyelgic’ Jackson who was also among those who laid its owner to rest when he goes to borrow someone’s identity that had died.
The filmmakers’ raunchy jokes fall flat. They overdo it with these instances which come early on in the first movie and then are no longer seen again (except for one scene where a sex tape is revealed just before the credits roll). The attempted college comedy in the form of Ben and Jamie’s failed frat party felt heavy-handed obviously what could go wrong and how it would end. It’s as if they put no thought into the humor, which ranges from a bitter girl who throws her drink at Ben to an intoxicated secondary character who gets naked for shock value purposes.
His story line fails to parallel with theirs though Palmer’s arc is developed independently from the platonic friends. However, either he was overlooked or he should have been removed from the plot. In opening credits, he’s billed as their third best friend but not so in the movie itself. For most of his screen time, Palmer is separated from the duo, on a hunt for an underground gay society that exists right at his backyard – something that might be hard to believe considering how much spotlight is put upon them being residents of a tiny town. Additionally, by making him apologize to Ben and Jamie at the end it denies him agency when they are guilty of ignoring him throughout their entire visit.
Ben and Jamie engage in witty, freewheeling conversations about sex, love, dreams, and fears which is effervescent and rhythmical. The story is most effective when it revolves around their conflicts and puzzles. He or she can’t help but talk the way they do because Shipka and Hiraga are a good match in their exchange of words during relaxed conversations. Hiraga would be a great leading man in “Rosaline” and “Booksmart,” he makes the hero moment feel earned by elevating weaker parts of the material. While DeMary and Hall, as her jilted soon-to-be ex-husband add depth to the characters. Christine Taylor as Ben’s caring mother, and Joel Kim Booster as Riggs’ boyfriend and Palmer’s wise confidant provide much-needed heart to this story arc. It is distressing that what otherwise looks like a solid cast ends up playing roles in some forgettable fodder; but perhaps this can be explained by the previously mentioned point of view of youth culture that seems to resonate with Charlie adolescente cliché-driven narrative arc of teenage life where concentration on superficial pleasures supersedes any desire to affect change for better or worse.
This review focuses on the character development in “Rosaline,” a film directed by Karen Maine. In addition to being enthralling young adult romance with many layers beneath its surface Rosalind also manages not only depict whole generation lost touch reality while they were growing up but also make us understand why young adults behave ways that do. In this regard it loses its edge over Scotty’s use of drug-fueled violence accompanied by outbursts shocked silence from his friends who have no idea what just happened until they see him lying dead ground next them outside club scene where every night infamous Cellophane plays before leaving bloodied mess behind himself part show off how big man really when caught unawares like would happen at dinner party hosted by Tony Blair.
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