Movie of the Week: Sierra Burgess is a Loser

Alexa: I wanted to hate “Sierra Burgess Is a Loser,” but I didn’t completely. That’s not to say I liked it, but it had enough saving graces to keep me invested in the story - namely Shannon Purser, aka Barb from “Stranger Things.” Purser’s performance is charming enough to make a character that could be completely unlikable in less capable hands at least somewhat relatable. And a compelling lead actress is essential to this movie given the slew of horrible choices she makes throughout the film. Listen to me, readers: Catfishing someone is not the way to win their heart, contrary to what this movie’s inevitable outcome might have you believe. The filmmakers clearly envision this high school Cyrano de Bergerac as a story about the importance of being yourself, even though Sierra ultimately wins over the guy of her dreams by first pretending to be someone else. Every poor decision along their path to love is cringeworthy and decidedly unromantic. I’m all for suspension of disbelief in a good rom-com but the movie has to earn it, and “Sierra Burgess” does not. I did enjoy RJ Cyler’s performance as Sierra’s best friend, Dan - seriously Dan, you deserve better than your crazy classmates. And I liked that the film’s final reunion wasn’t between Sierra and Jamey but Sierra and Veronica. That one moment at the very least underscored the idea that their friendship was the most important relationship to come from this whole mess. Ovaries before brovaries, ladies.

Joel: I get the idea that the movie was going for a modern version of Cyrano in the age of communication. Would a tale like Cyrano be possible when you have so many different ways to communicate, with texting, phone calls, facetime, instagram, and any other platform people use to communicate with each other these days. Would the plethora of communication options make things easier or harder? I get the question but, Sierra Burgess is a Loser seems to go out of it’s way to keep from having to answer the question. For a group of kids who live in the age of communication, they all seem uniquely terrible at communication. At every turn, someone does something stupid, and the movie doesn’t seem to add any more motivation that “eh, teenagers are stupid.” We even get the most overused moment in all of romantic comedies, where one character unexpectedly kisses another character causing a third character to see and run away to overreact about it one second before the kiss abruptly breaks apart. And again, it’s a situation that only escalated to the point it does, because all of the characters refuse to communicate with one another.

What’s frustrating is that as little as they’re given to work with, the main cast in incredibly charming an likable. Sierra Burgess due to her actions in the movie could easily come off as unlikable,but Shannon Purser is able to craft a central character that is warm and rich and easy to root for. RJ Cyler’s Dan is a hall of fame contender for sidekick characters that should take over and be the main focus for the rest of the movie. And finally, Kristine Froseth takes something that seems to be nothing more than the shallowest stereotype possible for the first half our of the movie and is able to create a character that stays true to the character flaws we see initially, but becomes a well rounded character, and one of the movie’s highlights. The relationship between Sierra and Veronica is easily the best part of the movie and should have quite honestly been the central focus of the movie. It seems as if almost by accident, the main storyline ends up feeling like a distraction to seeing these two characters figuring each other out, and developing the most interesting relationship in the whole movie. (Which makes it all the more frustrating that the makeup scene between Sierra dn Jamey takes several agonizing minutes while the reunion between Sierra and Veronica is little more than a wordless hug at the end.)

Chris: All messages aside, I found myself way more interested in the development of the friendship between Sierra and Veronica than the budding relationship between Sierra and Jamey that was the focus of the movie. By the time we reached the third act, Sierra’s instagram betrayal hurts way more than any deception Jamey experienced. The end result of the movie is that catfishing feels gross no matter what the circumstances may be. Sure, Sierra didn’t ask for any of this because she wasn’t the one that gave Jamey her phone number and yes, the point of Sierra Burgess is a Loser is that Jamey fell in love with Sierra’s personality but even Jamey said that he probably never would’ve noticed her normally which was a brutally honest thing to include in a feel good teen dramedy.

Jason: I’m not sure that the person who wrote this movie ever actually went to high school. It’s a problem I see with a lot of high school centered dramedies. No school is like that. The social stratification of the students is so blown out of proportion! Don’t get me wrong, I knew some pretty terrible people in school but none of them intentionally shoulder checked a kid just because they were a “nerd” or scoffed and yelled indignantly at someone who dropped their books. These hyperbolized fictional schools just don’t ring true. And when you’re doing a film like this one where everything else seems at the very least plausible, the setting has to feel just as plausible. Sierra was getting bullied by her stinkin’ counselor, for crying out loud. And why? Because she’s smart? Because she’s a little heavyset? No one acts like that, especially in today’s culture of hyper awareness of inclusion and “wokeness”.

I’m sure we all picked up on the fact that this is a sort of gender-bent, backwards adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac but there are some key elements that make this version a less compelling tale than its inspiration. Namely, our hero is awful. In the original tale, Cyrano remains loyal and honorable to the plan despite his feelings even to the point of death. Sierra, on the other hand ends up being just another bitchy teenager with a grudge. At the end she blames her actions on the fact that she feels that “the whole world is conspiring against her” because of how she looks. I cannot root for a character who is that shallow and selfish.

The tone of the movie was quite nostalgic. There were John Hughes-esque beats in there that I’m sure were entirely intentional. And the synth faux-80s pop soundtrack just tied the bow on top. Problem is, those movies were never really my cup of tea. I didn’t hate it. I didn’t love it. It is a thing that I have now watched.