Sierra Burgess Is a Loser

The whole mistaken identity plotline is something as old and retold as my grandfather's story of his father being in World War 1. And yet I would listen to that than watch this movie again. The performances are good, the Sunflower song is hummable and nice but apart from that the story is just unbelievable. The conflict of Seirra being a total arse of a person is resolved as quickly as Usain Bolt runs the 100 metre sprint, though not even remotely as entertaining. Not comparing with the other movies available on Netflix, even standalone this film lacks pace and has hardly any moments that would stay with you. An utterly average affair.

The movie fails to make any impact whatsoever. The only reason I am giving it 4 starts is for Noah Centineo.

I went in thinking this movie was going to have a message about body positivity and female friendship, but this was a little disappointing. Mistaken identity can be a fun trope in a romcom but I had a difficult time with this one. Instead of rooting for the lead female character, I ended up rooting for the female antagonist instead.

In the beginning, I found Sierra likable enough and I was eager to see what was going to happen next. She seemed comfortable in her skin. But as the story progressed, there were certain behavioral patterns in her character that left me quite horrified. For instance, the catfishing was pretty creepy. I don't understand how this could be considered romantic. Honestly, I really like stories that feature an online friendship that turns into romance (A Cinderella Story was a great example of the sub-genre) but the catfishing bit was too much to take. This would definitely not have been considered romantic had the gender roles been reversed. A guy doing the same things would definitely have been strictly persecuted, so how come no one objected to this during pre-production?

The cast did a nice job. I loved RJ Cyler as the best friend and Kristine Froseth was great as Veronica (she actually made me root for her). Noah Centineo is a dreamboat as usual (sensitive jock roles really suit him, I think). It was refreshing to see Shannon play the role of Sierra Burgess. She was great with the emotional scenes and I do feel this role wasn't able to do justice to her talent. She deserved better than a character like that.

Sierra's character is a self absorbed "smarty pants" character with absolutely nothing going on for her. At no point in the movie you root for her to win over her love interest.

Deceiving someone into thinking you are someone else is simply wrong and in no way should be romanticized.

By the way - Sierra is just as shallow as Veronica or anyone else. The only reason she's into the guy is because he SENT a picture of him right off the bat. Would've she reacted differently if he didn't look as a catalog model? I definately think so.

That is the real message of this movie. Absolutely terrible storyline, they want you to feel for the protagonist but in reality she's a terrible person.. seriously how is this trying to be spun in a positive light?