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Palm Springs Movie Review

Palm Springs is a 2020 romantic comedy film directed by Max Barbakow and starring Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti. It’s such a good, fun flick.

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“I felt everything I’ll ever feel.

So I’ll never feel ever again“

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It follows two strangers who meet at a Palm Springs wedding only to get stuck in a time loop. Let’s first get this out of the way – the movie’s plot is wholly unoriginal and derivative. This is yet another time loop story where the characters relive one day over and over again. It’s silly how we got to see the same movie also over and over again like the concept itself, but even though the film is nowhere near as original as the critics would make you think, it’s so much unabashed fun that you can’t blame it too much.

Even though it wasn’t enough just adding one character into this time loop to make the film truly original, it was still somewhat different, and the romantic comedy elements here are actually much better done than in ‘Groundhog Day’ as the romance is better developed. The chemistry between the two leads is fantastic and their relationship is wonderful.

There is actually a pretty amazing metaphor going on in this movie, and that took me by surprise. The film’s time loop stands as long-term relationships themselves – life in these relationships may become monotonous, but it’s safe and the feeling that you and your significant other are better-adjusted and happier than other people is phenomenally portrayed here. The movie is, thus, a very strong proponent of a committed monogamous relationship, which I personally found refreshing and commendable.

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Andy Samberg is pretty good here. His acting isn’t amazing, but he is solid as this fun, funny goofball. Nyles is a very well developed, strongly written character. Even better, though, is Sarah. This character I absolutely adored as she’s both believable and also very much a badass girl who is the more dominant and proactive of the two. Cristin Milioti killed it with such a powerful performance.

Other characters are less important, but J. K. Simmons as Roy is so much fun. I really liked that subplot where Nyles was getting killed constantly by him as he had ruined his life by including him in this time loop. But the fact that Sarah herself came into the loop and she ended up solving it was a great plot element. I also loved that mid-credits sequence as it was emotionally rewarding.

Palm Springs is a very entertaining movie, and that’s mostly because of its very fast pace. That pace was problematic in some rushed scenes, but for the most part it led to a detailed, very eventful movie, which is engaging from start to finish, though the scenes where the two are separated are the least interesting of course.

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That kinetic energy made the film very modern and cool without feeling overly annoying. The humor is pretty good, sometimes even great, but the romance is the standout aspect to it. The film is also well shot, well directed and also well written in terms of dialogue as some of the two’s conversations are very memorable.

How many times are we going to see the same movie over and over again like this time loop itself? Well, as long as we get them to be this good, then we’ll be fine with it. Although it is wholly unoriginal and derivative in its plot, Palm Springs is so much unabashed fun that you can’t help but fall in love with it. The kinetic pacing, some very interesting scenarios and strong dialogue made Palm Springs entirely engaging, but what makes it stand out is its central romance, which is so well developed and featuring two superbly realized characters. The movie is also a strong proponent of a committed monogamous relationship, which was refreshing and commendable.