The Rom Com Catalog

Tag: The Kissing Booth

  • ‘The Kissing Booth 3’ (2021) Review

    ‘The Kissing Booth 3’ (2021) Review

    The Kissing Booth 3 picks up where The Kissing Booth 2 ended – with Elle and Lee’s graduation and Elle finding out that she’s been accepted to both Harvard (Noah’s school) and Berkley (Lee’s school). She puts off her decision, telling both brothers that she’s been waitlisted at both colleges.

    The last movie in The Kissing Booth trilogy is the summer before Lee and Elle head off to college. They spend the summer at the beach house owned by Lee and Noah’s parents, who have plans to sell it. After Elle decides to attend Harvard with Noah, she strives to make it up to Lee by completing the Beach Bucket List they wrote as kids. In an attempt to make everyone happy, Elle becomes overwhelmed as her relationships fall apart.

    As much as I enjoy most of the cast, the movies are not very good, and The Kissing Booth 3 is no different. I couldn’t figure out why this movie is nearly 2 hours long. It has no cohesive narrative, and many scenes feel redundant and forced. Along with Lee and Elle’s bucket list montages (including swimming with sharks and skydiving), Elle’s dad has a new girlfriend, Noah’s friend Chloe arrives to stay at the beach house, and Marco shows up with a job at the local water park. Lee is planning literal schedules for himself and his girlfriend, Rachel, who attends a different college. Noah and Elle spend most of the movie fighting. Lather, rinse, repeat.

    While I understand what this movie wanted to be – a journey of self-discovery – it resorts to the petty love triangle vibe of the second movie. It wastes any potential it might have had to finish a rather bland trilogy on a solid note.

    Why did we need to see Marco again? What was the point of Chloe moping about her divorced parents? Sure, I get that these two characters are clearly meant to give advice and help Noah and Elle work things out, but ultimately, their presence in the film was pointless. Did anyone care about Lee and Rachel, the latter of whom was a complete non-factor in the movie? The charm and talent of Joey King are once again wasted here. Jacob Elordi has already proven he’s talented (Euphoria), but he’s just going through the motions here, though I can’t blame him, considering how little the script gives him to do.

    Obviously, this is not a glowing review of The Kissing Booth 3, but I will admit that I enjoyed it more than the first movie and maybe slightly more than the second. I found bits and pieces fun – mostly Elle and Lee’s scenes together, and I will admit that I liked the ending.

    It attempts some semblance of realism after an hour and a half of complete fantasy. I know that when watching these movies, we want the sugary happy ending with a cherry on top, but I was more than okay with how Elle’s story concluded. I saw many fans of these movies complaining about it, but I think Elle and Noah’s HEA was implied by that last shot.

    The Kissing Booth 3 is schmaltzy and repetitive, offering nothing new beyond the first two movies. If you want a teen romance with some depth, check out the To All the Boys trilogy instead.

    Watched: 08/20/2021
    Notable Song: Fading by Colouring

    Rating:
  • ‘The Kissing Booth’ (2018) Review

    ‘The Kissing Booth’ (2018) Review

    Elle (Joey King) and Lee (Joel Courtney) have been best friends since childhood. They even had a long list of “rules” for their friendship, including #9, no dating Lee’s hunky older brother, Noah (Jacob Elordi).

    Wouldn’t you know it, though? Elle has harbored a crush on Noah for years, even though he’s bossy, a player, and controlling. Flash forward to her junior year of high school, where Lee and Elle have to devise a way to raise money for a school fundraiser. They finally decide on a kissing booth, which leads to Noah and Elle locking lips. Their mutual attraction grows until they choose to date secretly until Elle can find a way to tell Lee about her new romance with his brother.

    So, when COVID started, and I began working from home, The Kissing Booth was one of the teen rom-coms I attempted to watch. I got about twenty minutes into it and had to turn it off. I don’t know if I wasn’t in the mood to watch it or if it was so bad from the get-go that I had little patience to suffer. Fast forward to August, and I finally decided to finish this movie. Don’t ask me why, okay? So many romantic comedies are generally hated, but I end up loving them, so I thought maybe this would be one of those times.

    It was not.

    Let me get this out of the way first – there aren’t any bad performances here unless you count the supporting players like the OMG girls, who are the poor man’s Plastics (Mean Girls). Braindead, no personality, and one-dimensional. But honestly, the main cast was perfectly fine despite the material they were given. I like Joey King as an actress. Joel Courtney was fantastic in Super 8, and even though his character was problematic, Jacob Elordi brought some depth to his role. Considering Elordi shines in Euphoria, it’s clear to me the issue with this movie isn’t the acting; it’s the writing. The plot is exceptionally bland and predictable.

    There’s too much exposition at the beginning of the film, which is then quickly stuffed with trope upon trope, none of which are executed all that well. We even get a “falling in love” montage. Of course, there’s nothing really wrong with that, but the dialogue is cringeworthy and induces massive eye-rolling. There were so many contrived scenes as well – Elle and Noah, both half-naked, getting caught in a curtain and rolling around on the floor together (The Proposal did it better), Elle giving the boys’ locker room a little strip tease to stick it to Noah, etc., etc. It felt so forced that I had to pause it several times and take a break.

    For me, The Kissing Booth is another attempt to prove how true love can help transform the sexist, temperamental heartthrob into the perfect boyfriend. I’m also tired of the “we’re best friends, but you can’t date my brother/sister!” trope. It just reeks of controlling, unhealthy friendships, and I would much rather see some new, more original plot devices used in these films. I kept hoping Lee would come to his senses and do something selfless for his best friend by being okay with Elle and Noah’s relationship, but even that was a total letdown.

    Simply put, The Kissing Booth is not a good movie. It’s not even “so bad, it’s good!” material. It reminded me of a lot of fanfiction I used to read as a teenager, and then I realized this is based on a piece of fiction posted on Wattpad, so… I guess that makes sense. I’m giving this one star simply because I liked the three main actors and… I’m probably going to watch The Kissing Booth 2. I keep reading that it’s over two hours long, so I’ll probably wait for an evening when I can drink.

    Watched: 08/05/2020
    Notable Song: Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes) by Edison Lighthouse

    Rating: