‘Palm Springs‘ directed by Max Barbakow (incredibly at his first feature film) is for me the good surprise of the end of this strange cinematic year 2020. It is also a film that proves once again, if necessary, to skeptics and cynics that there are entertainment films and romantic comedies that do not insult the intelligence of viewers, and that ‘feel good’ movies can contain a dose of fantastic (and even references to quantum mechanics). The premiere of ‘Palm Springs‘ took place at the Sundance Film Festival, after which the movie was supposed to be screened in theaters, but then the world froze and same as many other productions Barbakow‘s film had to find a streaming platform as its main broadcast channel. I’m so sorry for their missed opportunity, because this funny movie would have had good chances to be the big surprise and maybe even one of the blockbusters of the summer of 2020. Unfortunately, COVID-19 had other plans.
The film begins with the awakening of Nyles (Andy Samberg), on a sunny morning in a resort in the middle of the desert, where he accompanies his (not very committed) girlfriend to the wedding where she is the bridesmaid. Nyles, a rather non-conformist guy, almost ruins the party with an impromptu speech influenced by intense drinking at the bar, and later in the nighr he he meets Sarah (Cristin Milioti), the bride’s sister and the family’s ‘black sheep’. The two seem to have a ‘click’ that will take them to the desert at night where the beginning of a sexual encounter is interrupted by an event … and here I stop telling more about the story so as to avoid falling into the sin of spoiling.
What happens next is a combination of crazy and romantic, fantasy and clever comedy. Many comments on the film mention that the inspiration comes from ‘Groundhog Day‘, a film I have not seen. What I can say is that I did not find any logical flaw in the script written by Andy Siara, who manages to give credibility to the pretext and substance of the characters, makes us viewers care about them, and even adds a touch of science with which the heroes will come out from a complicated situation. I didn’t know the two lead actors or I don’t remember them from other movies, but they both manage to win our empathy. J.K. Simmons, an actor we know from countless television series, is distributed here in a very different and original role. ‘Palm Springs‘ is one of the best entertainments of the year, a kind and smart movie that I warmly recommend. It’s fun.