If you’d just admit she’s a vampire, this would go so much easier. “She can’t go out in the sunlight. She has a rare disease.” Yeah, it’s called “vampirism.” Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP)? C’mon. You made that up, didn’t you? She can’t go out in the sunlight? She’s a vampire. A very good-looking and disturbingly non-pale vampire, but a vampire nonetheless. You didn’t have to invent this genetic hoodoo to retell Everything, Everything.
Like most shut-ins, Katie (Bella Thorne) is drop-dead gorgeous and a child prodigy. Although just a teenager, Katie awkwards at a “Crazy Cat Lady” level. She demonstrates the latter with aplomb when her 10 p.m. single-woman train station folk act is interrupted by her everyday crush, Charlie (Patrick Schwarzenegger). Charlie is the Terminator, er, boy next door, and has never met Katie before thanks to the shut-in stuff. Katie’s Dad (Rob Riggle) has only recently decided that she can have outdoor pre-curfew time at night. That’s some tough parenting, btw, You can’t let your child out of the house during sunlight, so, what? You compensate by letting your only daughter run willy-nilly after dark? It’s a wonder she has any life at all. Well … now she and Charlie have met, so the romance may begin. Will she ever tell him about her vampirism?
There’s a subtle moment I treasured above all others in Midnight Sun, and it had nothing to do with the romance in the film. Katie gets invited to a party, and it’s worse than any teen could ever fear, it’s a nerd party. This post-graduation gathering is the stuff of coed nightmares: fewer than ten people at a house aching for fifty, no other girls, hopelessly shy boys sporting weak moustaches, planned activities including homemade chili sampling and an ice cream bar. TBH, the ice cream bar sounded good, but I’m not sure how that’s gonna fly in a prom dress. Gee, fellas, gonna play some D&D if you can ever get that level 15 keg tapped? There is a rival party across town where the action is. Charlie, the coolest guy at Dork-o-rama is an automatic invitee to the “good” party. He’s only at Nerd-a-palloza because of Katie. So, guess what? Let’s go to the party that’s not-so-awkward.
Let’s ALL go.
Ah, you have found my heart, Midnight Sun. It’s one thing if the cool kids go to the cool party and strand the nerds, it’s quite another if the cool kids say, “They’re with us.” At that point, I can truly root for Charlie. He has the ability and -given high school protocol- the duty to shun the less desirable, but he doesn’t. And, now, as an audience member, I want him to have a successful relationship with Katie.
Not long ago, I showed some Grade A ignorance in calling Rob Riggle miscast in 12 Strong for a role (military officer) he more-or-less played in real life. Yes, part of this was my own
lack of knowledge –we can always learn more- but part of it was Riggle. I’m sorry, but I don’t really believe him as a military officer despite the fact that he was, indeed, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Marines. This is how much I thought of Riggle’s acting. Credit where credit is due – Rob Riggle isn’t a Marine here; he’s a sympathetic single dad, and a wonderful one. IMHO, this is his best role to date and I really hope that his career takes him to this place more often, which is to say the place where I can truly empathize with his portrayal rather than being repelled like two conflicting magnets.
Midnight Sun is emotional and manipulative like you’d expect, yet not overly so. Yeah, part of it is difficult to buy; I mean, did you make Katie a shut-in just to invent a gorgeous-yet-socially-awkward teen girl? That seems like cheating to a small extent. Yet, I liked Katie, and Charlie, and dad. And I’ll happily forgive the film’s flaws because even fabricated shut-ins should get some love once in life.
♪Curtains don’t open ‘till after dark
And it ain’t ‘till curfew when Lois becomes Clark
But she always had to be home by ten
Cuz big daddy Riggle gotta know where she’s been
Crowd of person lines up to hear that train set
Say, neighboreeno, why ain’t we met?
See in the day time, I shrivel like bacon
Don’t pick a brunch date, I be flakin’ cuz
This chick comes out at night
This chick comes out at night
This chick comes out at night
This chick comes out at night♫
Rated PG-13, 91 Minutes
Director: Scott Speer
Writer: Kenji Bando, Eric Kirsten
Genre: Everything, Everything, and this thing, too
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Hopeless romantics
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: The people who made Everything, Everything
♪ Parody Inspired by “Freaks Come Out at Night”
