A Review—'Sierra Burgess Is a Loser'

Sierra Burgess is a Loser is the worst Netflix Original I've ever seen. Let's break it down. Let's start by breaking down the pros, and cons, before discussing the conclusion.

Pros

1.Noah Centineo:

Although it may seem bizarre that I'm putting a star as a pro, with this movie I have to take what I can get regarding things I liked. Noah played Jamey, the male love interest. Throughout the movie, he's one of a few things, that kept me interested. However, not due to his character. The reason I enjoyed his role, is due to his role in To All the Boys I Loved Before. Which if you read my last review, you'd know that I adored that movie.

2.The Plot:

Yes, this is a recurring theme throughout these reviews. I enjoy the plots. This is yet another, well executed, small-scale plot. With that being said, I do still have a few complaints involving the plot. But we'll save that for the cons segment. A more accurate title for the movie would be Catfish: The Movie. Because that's exactly what it is.

3.Fun Scenes:

There were fun scenes. A scene that comes to mind is the facetime scene. In this scene, Veronica is facetiming Jamey, while Sierra performs the voice, in the background. The stupid shenanigans similar to this, really bring life not only to these characters, but to the script, and the world. Apart from this scene, the party scene also comes to mind. However, in this scene, Sierra, and Veronica were mostly separated. Due to this, Sierra's character was fleshed out more.

Cons

Unfortunately, the cons of this film, greatly overshadow the pros. Let's begin.

1.It was just stupid:

Now, this may seem a bit general. I understand where they were going with the whole body shaming factor. However, it was poorly executed and was mostly represented via poorly acted "I'm ugly" lines, and occasionally scenes. The whole "Fat, ugly nobody becomes friend with popular, pretty cheerleader" trope is overdone to the point where I cringe when it happens. Jamey was mostly a stereotypical "Jock, but I secretly have a soft side" type of character. Overall, the entire movie was stupid. Now let's get specific.

2.Stale Characters:

I touched on this a bit in my last point. However, I feel like getting into more detail with this. Every single character in this movie is a common trope found in "coming of age" stories. You have the underdog, the preppy, popular person(s), the disapproving best friend, the unaware parents, and last but not least, the teacher that thinks you can do better. It very much is possible to make a good "COA" movie without these tropes. Unfortunately, writers, often don't realize this.

3.Act III:

The third act, is typically where the characters have hit their low point. They then spend the remainder of the film attempting to resolve the issues. You're meant to feel for the characters, as well as feel with the characters. However, when the third act started I barely cared for anyone. Everything had gone wrong in Sierra's life. The boy hated her, the friend left her, and the teacher was disappointed. Sadly, I was kind of happy when Sierra's life started to suck. She's a manipulative, lying, lead, full of self-pity, and a victim complex. Occasionally, having a character with so many faults isn't terrible. In the occasion that a character is awful, and might as well be a villain, but they learn, grow, and change, then I'm fine with it. However, Sierra doesn't learn a thing. Everything that was taken from her, is practically, handed back to her immediately.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this film is a poorly scripted, poorly acted, mess. With awful characters, no real growth, and no real consequences, this movie gain a horrible score of...

Netflix Original Standards: 4/10

Normal Movie Standards: 2/10