IF YOU ARE UNDER THE AGE OF 16, YOU SHOULD ASK A PARENT IF YOU ARE ALLOWED, IF THEY SAY NO…IT MEANS NO!

ca-times.brightspotcdn.jpg — 80/100 “sweet”

By: Keaton Marcus

The genre of comedy has been overdone for a long time now, and most of them end up tired cash-grabbers, but there's always a special one to catch your attention. 2020's diamond in the ruff is Palm Springs, the new movie about two people, played by Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti, who get stuck in an infinite time loop. While there are cliches here and there, both performances are absolutely hilarious, and the laugh-out-loud moments rarely stop. It does take a bit of time before it truly realizes the absurdity of its premise, but as the film goes on, it ends up sticking the landing. What's most impressive is that it's from first-time director Max Barbakow and newbie screenwriter Andy Siara. Kudos to the two who have made a better movie than many experienced directors. The entire idea of this thing is already hard to grasp onto, but wait until you actually see the real thing!

Nyles (played by Samberg), is the guy you can relate to during the entire ride. His need to bust out of the same day is actually painful to watch, but he's pretty much given up and settled for the bar open at the posh wedding in Palm Springs. That's when Nyles meets Sarah (Milioti), the older sister of the bride (Camila Mendes from Riverdale), and get into the trouble that fuels the flick. After saving her from making a drunk toast as the Maid of Honor, they go off together on the beach, and well, do what people do. They're already attracted to each other, but Nyles doesn't really know much about love.

He's currently in a relationship with Misty (Meredith Hagner), but its mainly for the sex...viewing her as a soulless hottie. And he's soon gonna find out that she's been cheating on him for a while now in an awkwardly enjoyable moment. However, when he meets Sarah, his life kinda changes, he comes to a realization that he needed to end it with Misty. And boy do they play the break-up moment a lot in the time loop. Though that's when he and Sarah take that little walk to the beach, attempt to have sex, but then get interrupted, by, well, J.K. Simmons with a bow-and-arrow.

That's right, the mean old drum teacher from Whiplash is trying to kill Detective Peralta right now, and I love it. This is when the film starts to fire on all cylinders, and when Sarah follows Nyles to a glowing red cave and joins him in the loop. Now she's stuck with who she calls later "a pretentious sad boy" for eternity. Yep, living out that same wedding day. The movie is at its funniest here, despite all the genre cliches of being reckless in the time loop.

We've seen it through some great stuff like Groundhog Day, Looper, Edge of Tomorrow, and Netflix's Russian Doll. So does the fact that it has been done before render this one as completely out of imagination. Nope. And it's a good thing that Palm Springs also has enough creative juice to stand out in the genre because otherwise, it would have been another soulless rip-off (that's you, Happy Death Day).

It's truly Andy Samberg's best performance on-screen in his career. And this guy knows how to make people laugh, whether he's a pop-star in a mockumentary, or a wisecracking detective in his claim-to-fame, Brooklyn Nine-Nine. But the chemistry between Samberg and Milioti is truly excellent. The fun never stops with these two, and that's when the movie completely goes off the rails. They go through a total existential crisis at one point, ramming their car into a truck, randomly coming into a bar to put on a little show for the patrons, and messing with the cops. "Suck my d..k, Officer Bitch", Milioti says.

What the creators really get right is how to end this thing. It's hard to finish such a movie, but Mr. Barbakow knows how to stick it satisfyingly and smoothly. It takes baby steps towards this neat conclusion, but don't worry, I won't spoil anything. All I can say is that it's a crazy movie that puts dinosaurs, a Fournier hair mist, a goat donning explosives, and an earthquake into play. It may be a film that suggests that repetition can kill sex drives and marriages, but it doesn't lose heart. Palm Springs is also a movie that will leave you chuckling appreciatively at what you'll do for love.

The final opinion is: Though it takes a little while for the movie to get going, Andy Samberg's perpetual Palm Springs party is a fun ride that rarely stops moving...$PLURGE IT

watch on hulu

Rated: R (for sexual content, language throughout, drug use and some violence)

Genre: Comedy

Runtime: 1 hour 30 minutes

Directed By: Max Barbakow