Sweethearts Review: A Raunchy Date-Night Film!
Two best friends travel back home to break up with their long-distance relationship high-school sweethearts over Thanksgiving. First off, some aspects of the movie had a theme of nostalgic comedy, reminding me of films like Road Trip, Eurotrip, Superbad, and American Pie. The humor isn’t as crude as the early 2000s comedies but carries the same tone for youthful decisions in life and the feeling of missing out on so many things. I found myself laughing throughout, which was a nice win.
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As awkward as the top two leads were in their own ways, Kiernan Shipka (Totally Killer and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) and Nico Hiraga (Booksmart) had real chemistry playing the best friends that followed each other around. Kiernan Shipka has shown that she is a good lead for different genres on-screen and feels like her perfect role could be waiting somewhere down the line. Caleb Hearon also deserves a nod for his performance as Palmer, the guiding light for the two friends.
It felt like Sweethearts had lots of very good ideas and setups for moments. However, the delivery of these pieces was not allowed to blossom, as it was just jammed into a brief 98 minutes. At times, you couldn’t even breathe before the movie would move onto the next joke or bit and not allow the people around the leads to really have some form of character development.
Caleb Hearon and Kiernan Shipka (@kiernanshipka) debate whether or not men and women can be ‘just friends’ 👀 #Sweethearts pic.twitter.com/MASn09H885
— Etalk (@etalkCTV) December 10, 2024
Similarly, the movie needed more to build the relationship between the leads, get to know their sweethearts, and all of their friends around them. The film steered you down one path and then another without any real direction other than to say, “these two are just friends…”
If you go into this movie looking for a rom-com, this might not give you the outcome you are looking for. This movie is really a new-look buddy comedy with hints of older raunchier comedies. The top leads really shine in this one, but there is a sense that things were moving too quickly, not really allowing you to breathe during the twists and turns. I think a more structured approach to the story and letting things develop more would have been better for the overall narrative. Still, it was a funny movie and made me wonder if the writer secretly had a crush on their best friend but tried to hide it in the writing of this movie. Sweethearts is a raunchy date-night film that was fine to watch at home.
‘Sweethearts’ Rating – 3/5
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