Thursday, December 19, 2024

Sweethearts REVIEW – A Lot of Heart

A true Thanksgiving type of movie.

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Years ago, When Harry Met Sally posed the question: can men and women ever be just friends? In 2024, Sweethearts is taking another run at the question, with Kiernan Shipka and Nico Hiraga playing co-dependent besties Jamie and Ben. Jamie and Ben are at college together, and they’ve left behind their high school sweethearts. Jamie’s boo Simon (Charlie Hall) is at Harvard, while Ben’s girlfriend Claire (Ava DeMary) is still in high school. Navigating long distance relationships can be difficult, especially if honesty isn’t a part of the equation.

Jamie doesn’t seem keen to be truly intimate with her boyfriend, and Ben’s so inundated by the constant messages and calls from Claire that he actually feels relieved when he doesn’t have his phone on him for one afternoon. After a disastrous night on the town, they realise they’ve outgrown these relationships, and maybe ending them might be the best way forward.

Shipka and Hiraga are just great together. They have effortless best friend chemistry, their quick wit and banter reminiscent of early screwball comedies but with a certain modern zing. Shipka just kills it in every single role, whether she’s the lead or supporting, and is able to handle any genre of film. She had a minor role in Longlegs and was fantastic in that too, so it’s not surprising that she knocks it out of the park here as Jamie. If there’s any justice in the world, Hiraga would have gotten his rom-com leading man flowers long ago. He’s been in a stint of rom-coms, usually in second male lead or supporting roles (Love in Taipei, Rosaline etc.), so I’m glad to see him in the leading role for Sweethearts.

Jamie and Ben have a third best friend Parker (Caleb Hearon), and we follow his character arc for quite a bit in Sweethearts, which is unexpected but really nice and heartwarming. Parker took a gap year to go work and live in Paris, trying to chase the fabulous life that eluded him during high school. But what was he actually seeking? What are we all seeking? It is through Parker’s arc that Sweethearts shows its true hand. The movie isn’t bothered about the pedantics of male/female friendships, it’s trying to show us that what people truly seek are spaces to belong, to find their people/person. We’ve been trained in such a pavlovian way that we formulaically desire for two people to end up romantically together because we see that as the ultimate happy ending.

Sweethearts follows in the trend of recent movies like Prom Pact, with the priority placed on developing the relationships at the centre of these films rather than constructing contrived romances just to satisfy the frothing romance consumer. They use the nostalgia of these past movies – When Harry Met Sally, Some Kind of Wonderful – only to subvert them and create new narratives of their own. There are some set pieces in the movie that felt too long and didn’t really work, but thankfully Sweethearts is able to revive itself after the tedium of those moments, and build to a conclusion that was heartfelt and absolutely satisfying.

REVIEW SCORE: 3.5/5

Natasha Alvar
Natasha Alvar
Natasha Alvar became an English Lit teacher because of Dead Poets Society, only to realise that maybe no one cares about dead poets like John Keats. An idealist, a lover of rom-coms and chocolate cake, and takes fiction way too seriously for her own good. Find Natasha @litmysoul

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