In the world of superhero megablockbusters or Oscar fare, the studios have all but abandoned mid level movie fare that would be released in the summer or spring. Movies like Rookie of the Year, sadly have become wasted budget for a studio. This is where Netflix really can attract viewers, and I think the streaming service realizes this. They could hit a gold mine if these movies are at least decent. For a long time, The Kissing Booth could have been their model for future movie endeavors: it’s not great, but it’s fun enough to be a lovely movie for a Friday night at home. Maybe get someone to work on that 3rd act next time though…
Elle (Joey King) and Lee (Joel Courtney) have basically been best friends since birth. They DDR’ed into each others hearts, but as best friends, creating rules to not disrupt their carefully constructed friendship. However, as Elle ages, she develops feelings for Lee’s older brother, Noah (Jacob Elordi), which is 100% against the rules. Complicating matters is the fact that their dance group needs funding, and Lee and Elle have elected to have a kissing both, for which Elle wants Noah to participate.
In general, for what Netflix does, the Kissing Booth is a perfect fit: a relatively harmless high school rom com you can watch with a significant other on a Friday night. The first half has some nice touches to keep the story from becoming to stereotypical of a John Hughes movie. Lee and Elle’s relationship is completely platonic, and not once do they have some BS storyline where Lee gets feelings for her. Also, that platonic friendship is strong. As Elle develops feelings for Noah, there’s a nice inversion where the big move for Elle is to chase after Lee for her friendship, not her boyfriend. In general, Elle’s goal is to life her happiest life, which may or may not revolve around a man. This means that our central lady lacks that awkward self-doubting loathing that fit old movie cliches. It’s kinda nice to see how these self-inflicted embarrassing moments are just brushed off by her extreme self-confidence. It’s 100% not believable, but as a message I have no problems with most of what The Kissing Booth is selling.
Until it starts falling into tropes or gaping plot holes, of which there are plenty. The rest of the cast is filled with hollow mean girl and jock stereotypes that would fit better into a Molly Ringwald movie… which is why she was probably cast as Lee and Noah’s mom, ha! The relationship between Elle and Noah really consumes the 2nd half of the movie too long, to the point the story becomes that dumb thing of hiding someone from your best friend, resulting in kinda funny gags that wholly undercut the rest of your story. The prom is heavily involved in the third act, which as you can see has Noah and Elle trying to reconnect. This leads to the force feeding of Elle’s independence, and equating Elle’s lying to her best friend to Lee’s unhappiness at this situation because Elle didn’t follow their friendship rules: pretty sure that’s a false equivalency. Lee is then just abandoned by the movie so Elle can try to reconnect with Noah. But wait…wasn’t Elle insisting on the importance of her friendship? Answer: Yeah, but that was one scene ago, so it’s irrelevant now because this screenplay needs that hunky Noah back onscreen. At this point, I just started noticing all the dumb plot stuff, like how Elle is the only person going to the airport to wish Noah goodbye on his way to college. Guess mom, dad, and Lee were too busy? Maybe they forgot? Did they also know that Noah gave Elle his bike? Sure, why not? Basically, The Kissing Booth will have supporters and objectors saying “It’s dumb.” Supporters will say it breezily, and the incredulous will say it angrily. I fell more on the breezy side, but I understand the half-empty response too.
The Kissing Booth will put you to sleep either from boredom or with the one you love. It’s more adult than your normal high school film, but it’s basically harmless forgettable stuff. I honestly feel Netflix is just uncovering really old scripts from different eras and recreating them for today, with The Kissing Booth being their latest example. Is that a good thing? No; they should just give Dee Rees more money to make something awesome.