Review: Palm Springs – “A brilliant meditation on making the most of life”

Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti – Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Chris Willard.

Happy millionth birthday, dipshit. Wake up and reset.

Depending on what number you read, people paid $22M for the distribution rights to ‘Palm Springs’. Twenty-two. Or twenty-five. You know. Whatever number you read.

Now that I’ve finally caught up with ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ — which is every bit as fantastic as I’d heard — I can honestly say, I’m not surprised. Andy Samberg’s following will flock to this. Cinema or not.

The fact HULU is available on a free trial for a month means there’s a technical loophole in making that $20M+ back. But let’s not dwell on details. I’m sure they know what they’re doing.

‘Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping’ has garnered a hardcore following, truly making it one of the cult comedies of the last 20 years.

After a poor box office run, it deserved better, first time round. But as DVD copies still land on doormats, via my social timeline, it’s brilliant to see people still discovering it, while the soundtrack hasn’t left repeat in my house, since Day 1.

In a cruel twist of fate, ‘Palm Springs’, which many are saying is the best & more importantly, most inventive, rom-com of the last few years now heads to VOD and skips cinemas altogether.

I’ve been banging the VOD drum for 116 days of shielding, because as cinemas try their best — or some way short of that — efforts to re-open safely, there’s a captive audience. And delaying things like ‘Halloween Kills’, especially after that brilliant teaser, for a whole year, make me tear my hair out. Just so it can have an October release? Rather than release it October VOD, then double bill, or triple bill it next year, when cinemas are safe? That particular decision means cinemas & VOD dip out.

As we try and get all areas of the economy going, the economics may need a rethink.

As much as I’d love to see Samberg hit big at the box office, he has already had the critical acclaim he deserves anyway. Plus, I still like the illusion of having him all to myself.

The only side note to ‘Palm Springs’ is that its debut is on HULU, exclusive to America.

This isn’t an anti-Europe thing, as even Canada are taking days off today and trying to get into HULU with various bits of witchcraft.

Once you’ve chosen how big a deal it is, you’re in for a treat. Albeit, as ever, the trailer gave too much away. I wish, like many at Festivals, I’d gone in as cold as possible.

The premise, that Samberg is on a time loop, repeating the same day over & over & over, is simple enough. The twist here is that Cristin Milioti gets sucked in to the time loop, too. And she’s an absolute delight, eventually turning her days into a version of GTA.

The fact the leads are so likeable helps massively, but the script is so sharp, it would be hard to fail. Surprisingly not written by Samberg, it gets right to the punch and explains the rules clearly.

A cave resets your day. If you fall asleep, you reset your day. So what do you do to get back to normality? And what do you do with your time?

It’s as simple as that. I know as I type how much that sounds like ‘Groundhog Day’ and it’d be remiss to not name-check it. But trust me, this becomes far more.

The reality is Mrs. T would have no real interest watching ‘Groundhog Day’. This? It has an emotional core that will get it a whole new audience.

It’s also refreshingly adult.

Samberg has given up on life at the point the movie starts. So sure he will win bets, he can nonchalantly move through each day, having previously lived through the scenario.

During a game of darts, we cleverly get a shift in what is and isn’t possible.

J.K Simmons shows up to the party and gets one of the biggest laughs with a joke about ‘ancestory’. All the while the film rattled on around it.

I really enjoyed the film and it’s hard to envisage someone not. Unless you’re so hell-bent on your Bill Murray fandom, that you miss the point he’ll be sat at home, switching on HULU as you read.

It becomes a brilliant meditation on making the most of life. Life is repetitive. But what if we work every day with a smile on our face? Pain is real.

Happy millionth birthday, dipshit. Wake up and reset.

Depending on what number you read, people paid $22M for the distribution rights to ‘Palm Springs’. Twenty-two. Or twenty-five. You know. Whatever number you read.

Now that I’ve finally caught up with ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ — which is every bit as fantastic as I’d heard — I can honestly say, I’m not surprised. Samberg’s following will flock to this. Cinema or not.

The fact HULU is available on a free trial for a month means there’s a technical loophole in making that $20M+ back. But let’s not dwell on details. I’m sure they know what they’re doing.

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