Late Bloomers

Late Bloomers is the exact opposite of edgy. If you want a movie that’s intense or challenging, this is not the movie for you. However, if you want a movie that makes you feel comfortable like you’re wearing an old sweater your grandma knitted for you with love, that’s the kind of mood Late Bloomers is for.

Late Bloomers is about two women who work at a high school who fall in love. Carly Lumpkin is the school’s secretary. She has a husband and two kids. Dinah Groshardt is a math teacher who also coaches basketball. Carly and Dinah initially bond after Dinah begins doing one-on-one basketball coaching sessions with the physically incompetent Carly. Of course, this leads to more. When people discover Dinah and Carly’s romance, it sends the community at large into turmoil. Taking place in a small town in 1996, people protest against these newly gay teachers being allowed near impressionable children and whatnot. But, the film is ultimately lighthearted so homophobia in this small community is mostly solved by the end. Eventually, much of the school and community at large come to witness Dinah and Carly’s wedding.

I don’t know what audience Late Bloomers was trying to attract. Quaint and goofy as the movie is, it seems like it was maybe trying to attract a middle-aged audience. But of course, it’s also a gay movie and it seems rather unlikely that a 1996 lesbian movie banked on their audience being primarily middle-aged and likely heterosexual. Well, I hope whatever audience they were trying to reach (closeted housewives?) enjoyed the movie. While it doesn’t speak to me personally, I’m still definitely charmed by Late Bloomers.

The happy ending is my favourite part about the film. I also love that much of the marketing shows both women in wedding dresses so you know how it ends. It’s a nice change of pace to watch a queer romance and not worry about what kind of sad the ending would be. It’s actually pretty radical that a movie from 1996 did end with a lesbian marriage, something that wasn’t legal yet.

The worst part about this movie is that it really doesn’t have enough story to fill its runtime. An hour and 40 minutes is too long for this movie. It’s padded by too many montages and too many scenes that are neither interesting nor particularly plot relevant.Sometimes I struggled to pay attention to Late Bloomers. But, simple as the plot is, that didn’t really impact my understanding of the film.

The fact that Late Bloomers is very different than most movies WLW or otherwise that I watched probably worked in its favour. I cannot say Late Bloomers is a great movie. It is, however, the exact sort of movie I wanted to see when I chose to watch it. Is this the most interesting movie? No. It’s dorky and quaint and harmless. However, this makes it a great movie to do a jigsaw puzzle to. Overall, Late Bloomers is a simple, charming movie. The plot is easy to follow and it ends on a feel-good note. Sometimes, that’s enough.

Overall rating: 5.9/10

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