Sweethearts, on MAX, is a rare Thanksgiving romcom about two best friends who are going to the same college but distance-dating their life partners: Ben is with Claire, still in high school.
Ben is played by Nico Hiraga, left, a former semi-pro skateboarder from San Francisco. He has appeared in Booksmart, Love in Taipei, Goodrich, and The Power.
His best friend Jamie, a girl (Kiernan Shipka), is with Simon (Charlie Hall, left), who is dumb as a fence post but got into Harvard on a football scholarship. Say what?
The long distance relationships aren't working out, so the two make a plan to break up with their partners when they all go home for Thanksgiving.
Left: Simon butt
Obviously they're going to get together or it wouldn't be a romcom. I'm fast forwarding through their scenes to get to Palmer (Caleb Hearon), the flamboyantly feminine "third friend" pictured in the animated opening. He's probably the standard romcom gay best friend who facilitates the romance, but maybe he'll get a boyfriend of his own.
Correction: I'm also interested in Ben's college roommate Tyler, played by Zach Zucker , a "Bad Bi Boy Clown" -- literally. He trained for two years at the Ecole Philippe Gaulier.
His character is introduced smooching a girl in bed, but maybe he's bi:
He looks at Ben's fake id and comments: "I'll go out with you. Just kidding."
Ben has his hands full, so he asks Tyler to take his cell phone from his pocket. "Whoops, wrong phone. Just kidding."
He seems to be dancing with Ben in the closing party scene.
And that's just when I paused the fast-forwarding.
Paris: "Third Friend" Parker is introduced at Minute 15, calling the duo, wearing a striped shirt and beret, sitting in front of an image of the Eiffel Tower. He took a gap year after high school to move to Paris, and he is working at a fast-food place near Euro Disney. Why would visitors to Euro Disney want to see fast-food workers in clichéd French costumes?
He announces that he is no longer "vaguely pretending to be straight." Really? Who would think you were straight after talking to you for 30 seconds?
He'll be coming out to a select group of former classmates at a party at his house on the night before Thanksgiving.
More after the break, including a rural Ohio gay community and some dicks, Caution: explicit.