This film IS decidedly better than its title. Then again, that’s damning with faint praise, isn’t it? There’s a point at which it really doesn’t matter how much better the film is if the title is, say, Benji the Hunted. Nobody’s watching that film. Want a good rule of thumb? Try not to name your movie after a 1970s Hanna-Barbera TV show. But, hey, we evaluate for content, not title, right? There was some decent content in this one.
April (co-writer and co-star Hannah Marks) and Nick (Dylan Sprouse) are a high school thing. I don’t want to be this guy, but –in this film- Dylan looks like Thor’s understudy while Hannah looks like she’s just been rejected by the Chess Club. Luckily, Hannah is about 1,000 times easier on the ears –conversation-wise, at least- which puts these two on even ground. They make a sweet, if exclusive, couple. There’s a running gag about jealousy from April’s tweener sister. What is it about li’l sis wanting to bang big sister’s boyfriend, anyway? Is this a thing?
When the couple does a Banana Split for college – she to BU, he to UCSB, their relationship drifts as well. Ah, young romance. Nick, still with the looks of Thor’s understudy, takes no time to attract Clara (Liana Liberato – wonder if she can sing? I see no evidence of such on her wiki page … but with a name like “Liberato?”). You can guess the results: April hits depression while Nick finds obliviousness. However, as we all know, April sours bring May’s now-ers. Pretty soon, April finds herself at a houseparty and who is there but Clara. Uh oh.
This is the part when a movie happens. See, April wants to hate Clara. Heck, we want to hate Clara. We want to find her a loathsome, house-wrecking, troll-beast. Fate has other ideas. See, Clara actually is genuinely
nice and Clara is a lot like April; she also has a problem with Nick’s devotion to Carly Rae Jepsen. It’s kind of sweet, and it means the Nick-April split was grounded much more in geography than philosophy or libidinism. And a funnier thing happens: April and Clara become good friends … which leads to very awkward conversations at April’s dinner table.
I loved the dialogue in Banana Split; I loved the friendship between April and Clara as well. Here’s what I didn’t love: the predictable story arc and the fact that the co-writer and co-star of the film didn’t realize she was writing a lesbian love affair. You should know when you’re writing a lesbian film; you really should. Banana Split is a lesbian love story without any lesbians. This will come as tittering shower-nozzle material for aspiring lesbians, but serve as a huge disappointment for genuine post-closet lesbians. I like the set-up and the characters here, but wasn’t wild about the payoff. Next time, leave the banana zipped up, find the true plot, and call this film “Sundae School.”
Two gals have a thing for one guy
When they decide not to give love a try
You two area thing
Why not have a fling?
LGBTQ just heaves a big *sigh*
Rated R, 88 Minutes
Director: Benjamin Kasulke
Writers: Hannah Marks, Joey Power
Genre: Adorbs!
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Closeted lesbians
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Disappointed genuine lesbians
