Movie Reviews
‘Prom Dates’ Movie Review: A Somewhat Fun Coming-of-Age Comedy
Released on Hulu (and Disney+) with little to no fanfare, Kim O. Nguyen’s Prom Dates has an immediate aura of familiarity to it. Notably plucking its core character arcs from Olivia Wilde’s Booksmart (and raunchy humor from Emma Seligman’s Bottoms, among others), it retreads a conventional story of two best friends, Jess (Antonia Gentry) and Hannah (High School Musical: The Musical: The Series’ Julia Lester), who have made a pact that their senior prom will be the greatest night of their lives.
The two have dates for prom until Jess’ boyfriend, Luca (Jordan Buhat, with an incredible turn as the biggest douche of our time), cheats on her and gets caught. Meanwhile, Hannah desperately wants to come out as gay, but her friend Greg (Kenny Ridwan) promposes to her in front of the entire school, putting her in a precarious situation. Hannah has the hots for Angie (Terry Hu) but can’t muster up a casual conversation with her without choking on her gum and farting (one of the film’s least funny sequences), while Greg has rewired his entire life on being devoted to her.
This makes for some relatively funny banter, with Ridwan stealing the show during a key scene where he attempts to look for Hannah but meets her brother, Jacob (JT Neal), so dehydrated from crying that he chugs a large water bottle in one go. This type of physical comedy is classic but is always effective, especially when the actors know when to be ultra-expressive (and when to ultimately dial it down) when the scene warrants it. In that regard, Ridwan is the best part of the movie, always appearing in the most uncomfortable situations and stealing the spotlight away from Gentry and Lester, who are equally as good.
Truth be told,the movie wouldn’t have worked if the chemistry between the two leads wasn’t solid. Thankfully, it’s far more than that, with Gentry and Lester portraying their friendship in an achingly sincere, relatable light that makes each uncomfortable situation far more entertaining than they should (I mean, sneezing blood on a stripteaser isn’t funny, but the way in which it’s executed is so surprising that it may bring chuckles out of you).
Gentry’s performance is far more grounded than Lester’s, but their different traits work quite well when paired together. Even if their personalities couldn’t be more different, they still find a way to connect with each other, leading to often absurd situations, which always end with the two finding ways to reconnect as they attempt (but miserably fail) to find new prom dates.
It’s a shame that the bulk of the film re-treads character arcs and a storyline we’ve all seen before, ultimately making the viewing experience a tad uneven. That’s not saying there aren’t any strong moments; there are plenty of hilarious situations that deftly use physical humor in a way that feels fresh and original (the frat boy concussion scene is a perfect example of subverting initial expectations the scene immediately sets up), but there are also plenty of situations that fall flat on their face.
One of them sees Hannah throw up a grand total of four times on a fountain as a couple celebrates their two-year wedding anniversary (with She-Hulk: Attorney at Law’s Patty Guggenheim appearing in a small role). The confrontation between the couple is funny, but what comes before isn’t, and it continues for a long time before the scene morphs into something quasi-interesting.
The movie then jumps to its ending, which, in all honesty, has highs and lows. The biggest high involves Lester singing a rendition of Frank Sinatra’s L.O.V.E. while the lows occur as Nguyen and writer D.J. Mausner go for some of the biggest and most uneventful prom movie clichés in the book, attempting to nicely tie everything together in a bow instead of going beyond what the initial character arcs introduced. Still, Prom Dates is a relatively inoffensive movie that cements both Gentry and Lester as terrific up-and-coming talents, and acts as a reminder that, if you haven’t seen both Ginny & Georgia and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, you should definitely get on that train right now.
Prom Dates is now available to stream on Hulu in the United States and on Disney+ internationally.
