Liz Buxbaum and her mom used to always watch romantic movies together. And Liz pretty much plotted out exactly how her first romance would work. But things don’t always go like they do in the movies.
Liz Buxbaum and her mom used to always watch romantic movies together. And Liz pretty much plotted out exactly how her first romance would work. But things don’t always go like they do in the movies.
Liz’s next-door neighbor, Wes, has never been boyfriend material. Liz has known this definitive truth since the second grade.
It was way back then that Liz’s mom gave her the golden rule to dating.
“Charm and intrigue can only get you so far, Libby Lou,” her mom had said. “Those things always disappear, which is why you never, ever choose the bad boy.”
Why did Mom bring that topic up in second grade? Oh, that’s easy. You see, before Liz’s mom passed in a terrible car crash, romance and love were sort of their vibe. They’d watch old romance movies together and talk about them all the time. Romance pics were, in fact, Liz’s first early passion.
Liz gained her sense of style from those films; she absorbed her carefree-girl-loving-life attitude from them. From those movies and their hearts and flowers joy she formulated exactly what her first romance would be like. And now, here in her senior year in high school, she’s about to see all of that sweet perfection come together. She’s sure of it.
You see, there’s this boy named Michael Young who just moved back into town. Back when they were kids, he was Liz’s forever crush. But he moved away. Now that he’s back—handsomer than ever, with an adorable southern twang—Liz will do whatever it takes to get on his radar and make her first crush daydreams a reality. Prom, here she comes!
Oh yeah, that’s where Wes, Liz’s next-door neighbor, comes in. Besides being the bane of her life and a decided bad boy, he also happens to be the only way that Liz can get into a “keg party” where she can connect with Michael.
Liz can’t stand beer or the stupid parties where teens drink the foul stuff, but this party is the best place to rekindle all those remember when memories with Michael. And the timing is critical. She must cute-meet before the beautiful Laney swoops in to grab Michael’s attention.
The key to that all unfolding is the loathsome Wes. She’ll have to make some deal with him, of course, to get him to go along with it. But as long as it doesn’t require selling her soul, she’ll endure.
Hopefully it won’t turn out like any of those rom coms where everything goes wrong.
Hopefully!
Liz calls out “Praise the Lord” at one point. But it’s used more as a turn of a phrase than anything connected to faith.
Because of her loving memories of her mom and the movies they adored together, Liz is a huge believer in love. “My inheritance was the knowledge that love is always in the air, always a possibility, and always worth it.”
That unassailable belief tends to motivate Liz to make some poor choices. But in the end her stumbles help her learn that love and life aren’t based on formulas or scripts. They both require friendship, patience and clear communication.
Liz’s dad is a loving and protective parent. In fact, because of the accident that took his wife’s life, he’s almost overly protective of his daughter. Liz understands this, but she sometimes stretches the truth with him because of it.
Helena is the woman who Liz’s dad met some time after her mom died. They fell in love and married. Helena has a polar-opposite personality compared to Liz’s mom. But she’s a kind and caring woman who wants to connect with her stepdaughter. Liz, however, tends to keep her at arm’s length, thinking that any connection would somehow lead to Helena taking her mom’s place..
Liz also fears that her deceased mom will somehow be “left behind” since she can’t participate in the important milestones in Liz’s senior grade life. Liz also lies to friends and family in pursuit of her romantic goals. But she later apologizes for her behavior.
The language can be harsh at times with uses of the f-word and s-word and a variety of other crudities including uses of “a–”and “h—” and misuses of God’s and Jesus’ names.
Teens drink beer at a keg party, including Liz. A drunken teen girl at the party vomits all over Liz’s dress. After that some kids call Liz “vomit girl.” Wes and Liz smoke Swisher Sweet cigars together, much to Liz’s chagrin.
We hear of the car crash that killed Liz’s mom. Liz is hit in the face by a thrown basketball and it gives her a massive nosebleed. Her nose isn’t broken but it does swell up, again earning Liz uncomplimentary nicknames. Liz and Wes get into a rainy night car accident. They swerve off a roadway and slide down a grassy slope, but the car slams to a stop without physically injuring the teens.
Two teens kiss passionately on a couple occasions. A different girl “hangs” all over a guy she likes. During a house prank a teen girl accidentally moons the home’s occupants. Someone notes that Liz wants to “bang” Michael. She balks at that statement. Liz is reading a book on her phone that “starts to get sexy.” She quickly turns it off so that no one else will see. Several different teen girls talk of their attraction to guys at school.
None.
Better Than the Movies is rom-com-like story that’s cute and fun. And it offers some nice encouragement for teens to focus on friendship, good communication and wise choices when it comes to things of the heart.
That said, there’s also quite a bit of foul language in the mix along with some drunken teen behavior.
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Book reviews cover the content, themes and worldviews of fiction books, not necessarily their literary merit, and equip parents to decide whether a book is appropriate for their children. The inclusion of a book’s review does not constitute an endorsement by Focus on the Family.
After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.
