One of the things I love most about movies is that they can do anything for you. For whatever mood you’re in, whether you’re craving light entertainment or deep thought, there’s a movie that can help with that. The beauty of film as a medium is the immense range of experiences it offers that still fall under the umbrella of “worthwhile”.
Palm Springs is a movie that makes me remember this about movies. Is it the year’s best film? Hardly. Is it any sort of masterpiece in its construction or themes or significance? Nope. But it’s a delightful experience nonetheless. It’s just under 90 minutes of pure diverting and breezy charm, and considering that I expected next to nothing from this film, I was taken completely by surprise by how well it works.
Speaking strictly to said expectations, I would have to credit my lack thereof with a portion of my enjoyment. So considering that I’m about to really hype it up, maybe just go watch it before reading further with only the promise that it’s a really good time. Because knowing what exactly to expect from Palm Springs would lessen a lot of the charm. Pressing play, I had no idea if I was getting a Lonely Island type raunchy comedy deal, a run of the mill Sundance romcom, an uninspired Groundhog Day ripoff, or some ungodly combination of all three. To be quite honest, it’s kind of all three, yet I somehow mean this in the best possible way. Palm Springs succeeds so much in that it doesn’t allow itself to get too caught up in being one tangible thing, and therefore it never falls into the negative trappings that being a defined thing entails. Take the opening scene, which gets a bit NSFW to say the very least, and might trick you into thinking that an hour and a half of Andy Samberg masturbation jokes was somehow the highest all-time sale at Sundance. But the film quickly progresses past its initial juvenalia, and ends up actually recognizing it as juvenalia and poking fun at it.
From here we move on to the main event of the film. Samberg’s Nyles is the boyfriend of Misty, whose friend (I’m pretty sure, I don’t think the movie ever actually explains their connection) Tala is getting married. Over the course of the wedding day, Nyles bums around carefree until the reception, in which Sarah (Cristin Milioti), the sister of the bride, forgets that she’s expected to make a speech, and Nyles bursts in with impromptu nonsense that distracts everyone and takes the spotlight off of her. So that’s the setup, and at this point I really do urge you to watch the film first if you’re sensitive to plot points, because from here the plot progresses into twisty ridiculousness that’s really better seen unspoiled. If this doesn’t matter to you, carry on.
So, that’s the meet-cute. Samberg and Milioti’s chemistry is undeniable, and the scenes of them together immediately following this are the first signs that this could be special (Milioti, by the way, is just absolutely exceptional in this. As consistently funny as he is, Samberg is basically just playing the Andy Samberg character, while Milioti gets simultaneously tasked with Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell in Groundhog Day and just absolutely nails it, adding an exceptionally entertaining emotional range into the proceedings while also providing her character with a depth that completely makes the film). So from that setup, things proceed rationally: they begin talking, they both express their dissatisfaction with their lives, Nyles reveals his girlfriend is cheating on him, they go into the desert to keep talking, JK Simmons shows up with a bow and arrow and begins hunting Nyles, the wounded Nyles crawls into a glowing red cave while imploring Sarah not to follow him, she follows him in and proceeds to be sucked in, then wakes up in her bed to find out that it’s the start of the previous day.
So that all happens, and then the movie chills out for a minute to explain some stuff. Yes, it’s a groundhog day situation. Nyles has been living in it for an indiscriminate amount of time, and he bypasses all the figuring-out-what’s-happening by explaining the whole thing to Sarah. It takes a little while for her to believe it, but eventually she recognizes what’s going on and continues looking to Nyles for guidance. From there come some more questions, first and foremost being (and I’m quoting directly here) “what the hell was the deal with JK Simmons and the bow and arrow?” The answer turns out to be that that was Roy, a distant relative and wedding guest Nyles partied with at one point and, under the influence of heavy drugs, dragged into the time loop with him. Naturally, Roy resented this, and has since committed time to torturing Nyles whenever he gets sufficiently mad enough to make the commute. It’s a hilarious plot point, but it’s also one that subtly plants a grim thought in the minds of the audience and characters alike: Nyles and Sarah are getting along great as it is, but infinity looks hard to stomach. Which is why Sarah takes the natural next step of trying to break free. She goes the Groundhog Day route of trying to be selfless and improve herself, to no avail. She tries just leaving palm springs, to no avail. After a short amount of time, she completely gives up and arrives at the conclusion Nyles did long before the events of the film began- that life is now meaningless and they can, nay, should do whatever they feel like.
This is where it starts to get really fun. Sarah embraces her newfound freedom and Nyles embraces his newfound lack of loneliness, and they embark on a range of activities including but certainly not limited to pool hustling, heavy alcohol consumption, and a spectacularly choreographed 80s dance routine. This is all absolutely hilarious, and it represents the key variation this makes on the Groundhog Day formula, which is the introduction of the cathartic element of another person to lessen the growing insanity of repetition. This tells such a fundamentally original story that even mentioning Groundhog Day this much feels reductive.
Samberg and Milioti sell the comedy so well that it’s almost a shame that there’s more to it, but there is. As it charges headfirst into goofiness, it also lays on layers of character guilt and flaws. Sarah wakes up every morning having just slept with Abe, her sister’s fiance/husband. Nyles is forced to reckon with what he’s done to Roy and his own issues with maturity. Things hit a snag between the two when it becomes evident that Sarah needs to get out and Nyles doesn’t want to. The way the film builds the relationship between these characters into a romance is stunningly natural considering how little time it takes, and stunningly effective given how little time there is before they split apart. Sarah disappears. Nyles spins into despair and aimlessness. He drives to confront Roy, preparing to surrender himself to whatever torture is necessary to take his mind off of his life. Roy, in one of the film’s most resonant moments, explains his reckoning with the fact that he’ll never see his life progress past where it is. He wallows and wallows in a way that was foreign to him even at the beginning. All credit possible to Samberg, by the way. For such an established comedic talent- I even referred to him earlier as a kind of one note performer- he sells his misery here.
And then Sarah shows back up. We are informed, via montage, that she has spent this indiscriminate amount of time studying quantum physics to try to find a way out. This is the most brilliant jab the film takes at Groundhog Day– looking at the resolution of that film, spurred by a karmic character realignment, and saying “yeah no the answer is quantum physics”. What follows is the final reckoning of the characters with who they are, what they want, and what they must overcome. With dynamite.
Palm Springs is ultimately as impressive as it is for its deftness in juggling its higher-minded intentions with brilliant comedy. Samberg and Milioti sell the hell out of a brilliantly funny script, and they’re backed up capably by the likes of Simmons and I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson regular Conner O’Malley (I had no idea he was in this. His first appearance may have been my favorite moment of the whole thing). And these are still very real, complex, interesting characters, compulsively watchable ones who make you wish for a longer runtime, despite the brevity likely contributing heavily to the charming feel. Is this a movie that’ll be winning awards come… whenever awards season is happening next year? Nope. Would it have made a ton of money if given a regular release? I doubt it. It’s not the year’s best film or a towering achievement or anything of that ilk. But it’s just an absolutely delightful, fun experience, and a pretty great way to spend an hour and a half.
Rating: 4/5
The Movie Files 