Midnight Sun

Midnight Sun

Starring Bella Thorne, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Rob Riggle, Quinn Shephard

Directed by Scott Speer

The Story:
Katie Price (Bella Thorne) is your typical everyday teenage girl: she plays guitar, loves her father Jack (Rob Riggle), and spends countless amount of hours with her best friend Morgan (Quinn Shephard), but she has one big secret: she suffers from a disease known as xeroderma pigmentosum (XP for short), which basically means if she steps foot into the daylight, the sun's light will kill her.  So she lives cooped up in her home at day, and ventures out to the train station at night to play guitar.

On graduation night, she goes to the station as usual, but then arrives Charlie (Patrick Schwarzenegger), who lives down the street from Katie and whom Katie has had a secret obsession with since childhood.  She is befuddled and uneasy, clearly intimidated by talking to her childhood crush, but he is amused by her awkwardness, and they begin dating.

She doesn't tell Charlie she has XP, and insists they only spend time together at night.  Together, they bring out the best in each other - Charlie coaxes her to sing in public, while she encourages him to keep swimming despite enduring a possible career-ending injury - but as they spend more time together, Katie keeps her illness a secret, until an event that could possibly threaten her life occurs, spiraling their happy love story into turmoil.

The Synopsis:
In August, I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, but after cutting out sugary drinks and snacks, and with rigorous exercise, I've been able to reverse the disease and maintain a normal blood sugar level.  Then I saw "Midnight Sun," and it was so sickeningly sweet I'm sure I got Diabetes again.  From start to finish, it was easily the most sappy, outlandish, wholesome drivel you can possibly imagine.  There's hardly a moment of doubt or darkness, even in the face of the most impossible odds.  Even when it seems that things should be sad, it's still as lovable and sweet as anything you'd see on Disney.

Yet, despite the fact that it clearly panders to the lowest common denominator, the performance by Bella Thorne saves the film from the dreaded "D" range and escalates it to one of the better romantic films I've seen this year so far (however, that's already a low bar to set).  It's not a film I would ever want to see again, but still it put a smile on my face, if only to see the pure magic that happens here that you know would never, ever, ever in a million years happen in real life.

Katie suffers from a rare disease called xeroderma pigmentosum, which basically causes the skin to become affected by sunlight that could lead to death, so she's confined to her home during the day (it'd be funny if she lived across the street from Maddy, the girl from "Everything, Everything" who suffered from SCID, since both girls are pretty much confined to their homes and come into contact with their hunky neighbor who is as wholesome as apple pie), but at night she can venture out to play her music.  Bella Thorne gives Katie a youthful innocence, as well as a sense of independence but also vulnerability that's a perfect blend for an actress of her caliber, creating a character that you actually find yourself caring for.  Thorne's magic shines bright through Katie, and things only get brighter as she finds the love she's always wanted.

That love comes in the form of Charlie, the former swim champion of his high school who suffered a career-ending injury, and who now sulks about it.  Patrick Schwarzenegger (the son of Arnold, of course) definitely has his father's acting ability - as in none.  Unfortunately for Patrick, he doesn't have the body of an Adonis that he can parlay into a Conan the Barbarian situation, and instead tries his hand at romantic comedy, resulting in him basically either trying really, really hard to smile or really, really hard to cry, but never really achieving either.  Yes, he's easy on the eyes (ditto for Bella Thorne, this is such a sappy romantic story I can hardly stand it), but when it comes to talent, he's eclipsed by Thorne's light.

The relationship between Katie and Charlie is one that you'd find on any family-friendly movie, where the realistic goals of such a relationship are never met.  Generally, the jock of the school is the stuck-up brat, borderline alcoholic, and who beds every cheerleader he could.  Yet that's not how Charlie is - he doesn't drink, shies away from the generic stuck-up cheerleader type who chronically chases after him, and he never pressures Katie into doing anything more than hand holding and head resting.  Again, a refreshing take on young love, but something very out of the ordinary and something totally sickeningly sweet.  You know if they made a film with average looking people, no one would even care, but since these two actors are so gorgeous, of course they'd draw a crowd.

To the same end, Katie is as wholesome as they come.  Even though she faces a disease that could kill her in an instant, she is always optimistic, always looking on the bright side, and never complaining.  She adores her father, which is something rarely any teenage girl does, even when faced with such a disease.  Rob Riggle blends his natural comedic charisma with some surprisingly dramatic acting chops here, and deserves recognition for such.

Katie plays the guitar her mother had - the mother who passed away when she was young, and the mother she always remembers fondly without any sense of sadness - and sings as well as Taylor Swift, which is even mentioned in the film.  Her best friend Morgan encourages her to pursue a relationship with Charlie, and is the kind of best friend who is with her through thick and thin, good and bad, and whom never quarrels with her.  Again, a relationship that's totally out of the norm, and so sickeningly sweet it's nauseating.

As Charlie and Katie begin dating, they only bring out the best in one another.  There's never any sexual tension, no hint of any type of argument, and their nights are filled with the most fantastic moments.  On a particularly sweet secret getaway, Charlie convinces the otherwise shy Katie to play guitar for an audience, and she draws in people from every age and color who clap along and fully support her.  She encourages Charlie to get back in the water, leading him to again try to get into the college that once shunned him after his injury.  Still, through all this, Katie never tells Charlie about her disease, because she's worried he'll see her differently.  This leads to the only truly dramatic section of the film where the sun is about to rise, and Katie urgently rushes home to avoid it, like a damsel in distress frantically running from the maniacal killer.  Since the film was so sweet before then, it draws you into the peril they face and you want her to make it home safe, which is a compliment to the film that you truly care for the characters in such a way.

Ultimately, the film is about love and rising above your problems, and how you can always see the good side in every situation.  Again, sickeningly sweet.


The Summary:
"Midnight Sun" is essentially a film about the most perfect relationships you can think of, a film that literally poops out rainbows and sunshine, and is as adorable as puppies and kittens, even when it probably shouldn't be.

The Score: B-