[7]

Leslie Mann, Ike Barinholtz, and John Cena star as parents of high school daughters determined to lose their virginity at prom. When the parents discover the young women’s secret sex pact, they freak out and spend the entire evening stalking their daughters to prevent the bumping of uglies. Well, except for Barinholtz’ character, who thinks it okay for the kids to mack out. Blockers is just as much about the kids as it is about the parents. The daughters are played by Kathryn Newton, Gideon Adlon, and Geraldine Viswanathan. Adlon’s character is a lesbian, but she hasn’t worked up the courage to come out to anyone yet. That’s probably the movie’s most striking grace note.

Everyone’s up to the task here, but Blockers falls short of being a non-stop laugh riot. It takes a relatively unfunny thirty minutes to wind up, and the rest of the movie really coasts on two or three big comic set-pieces to create an overall, lasting impression. I won’t spoil those set pieces entirely, but I will say that one involves John Cena’s anus and a beer chugging contest, and the other involves a kinky game played by supporting players Gary Cole and Gina Gershon. When you add in the charm of Mann and Cena (I love them both), the movie adds up to something worth seeing.