Drugs. Cars. Money. Women. These are all great components to a quality movie on say, El Chapo. One would never guess that the Sundance 2021 Next feature entry, First Date, includes all of the above and more. The debut feature from directing duo Darren Knapp and Manuel Crosby is a teenage love story that goes wrong, then worse, then deadly. Yet is all packaged up by a cute button at the end. Mike (Tyson Brown) – a soft spoken, pushover high school student – has a debilitating crush on fellow classmate Kelsey (Shelby Duclos). Thanks to his best friend who steals a cell phone just to retrieve Kelsey’s number for his dear comrade, Mike gives his crush a call to set up a date.
One major problem is that Mike doesn’t have a car to take Kelsey out. Enter the dubious salesman that dupes Mike into purchasing a lemon ’65 Chrysler that takes the story places one wouldn’t imagine. Poor Mike takes a series of twists and turns to arrive at Kelsey’s house in time for their first date. Throw in greedy drug dealers and a pair of shady cops though – Mike misses his date completely. That’s just half of the movie though (literally). First Date is mash up of genres that shows the desperate measures a young man will go through for a girl he likes. It’s a dark comedy, coming of age, and surprisingly action packed film that will leave your head spinning. Sundance 2021 Review: ‘First Date’ Sundance 2021 Review: ‘First Date’
Let’s start with this – First Date is sure to frustrate the viewer for the first half of the film. Protagonist Mike is run over by everyone in the movie because he’s way too timid and doesn’t challenge anyone. This characteristic makes you want to reach through the screen, grab him by the shoulders, and scream “Grow some balls!”. At times Mike was so quiet that it seems as if he barely had any lines at a point. However, all is well when Mike and Kelsey finally meet up giving Mike a chance to explain how terribly left his day went after trying to secure a ride for them both that night.
That’s only half of the story though. The audience now goes through a ridiculously unexpected ride on a mission to deliver a huge drug deal that ends in a Tarantino-esque shootout that will leave your eyes wide open in a “how did we get here?” feeling.
First Date at first sight will disappoint the viewer. It’s only after the story really unfolds and more characters come into play, you’ll appreciate the journey the directors took you on. It’s a cute yet aggressive coming of age film that could be a good watch on, should I say… on a First Date?
Sundance 2021 Review: ‘First Date’ Sundance 2021 Review: ‘First Date’
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