'Sweethearts' smiles and laughs as it works through it
HBO Max
Anyone who expected “Platonic” to be better better scroll to “Sweethearts,” even if the latter is set a few years/a lifetime before the former. Doesn’t matter: Very funny and unexpectedly winning, the movie tackles the friendship between a guy and a girl far more successfully than the show, although, full disclosure, haven’t seen season 2 because season 1 didn’t make me want more.
Inevitably, the “When Harry Met Sally” of it all looms large and even factors in directly, which is fine — it’d be weirder not to acknowledge it, and “Sleeping with Other People” showed that the template can be updated really well. “Sweethearts” doesn’t quite hit those heights; it’s more like a steady groove that peaks and dips but overall steadily screams three stars out of four, and that’s meant as a compliment.
The setup, at first, seems measured: Longtime best friends Jamie (Kiernan Shipka of “Twisters” and “The Last Showgirl”) and Ben (Nico Hiraga of “Booksmart”) haven’t adapted much to college life because all they do is lament to each other about how they can’t go out due to both still being with their significant others from high school. Because these two have spent forever doing everything together except dating, they hatch a plan to both end their relationships while home for Thanksgiving break, prompting a somewhat unexpected transition from young people figuring out their collegiate existence to yet another movie about one wild night, with several elements feeling very reminiscent of “Superbad” in particular.
Even if the structure feels a little gimmicky and certain elements too convenient, director/co-writer Jordan Weiss has a great handle on the characters and the comedy. This is frequently laugh-out-loud stuff, something you can’t say much anymore and a testament to the screenplay and the delivery, including from Caleb Hearon as Ben and Jamie’s close friend Palmer, who hopes to at last come out to his hometown on the same night as the breakups and numerous pre-Thanksgiving bashes.
Meanwhile, “Sweethearts” has a good sense of formative moments at a particular time and age, not necessarily promising anything for the long-term but recognizing the importance for the characters now. That counts for a lot, as does the ending’s arrival at wisdom and warmth, unified like seats on a tandem bike.
B
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