Sweethearts is a surprisingly decent romantic comedy that has the hallmarks of a bad one but manages to be just a little bit better. Wouldn’t say it’s my favorite anything, but its pretty good.

It stars Kiernan Shipka and Nico Hiraga as platonic best pals from high school now in college. They realized they have to jointly break up with their still-in-high-school significant others when they head home for Thanksgiving. Things don’t go as planned (of course).

The misadventures of these two folks as they set off to crush their romantic dreams probably should play out a little more cruel than it does. It helps that their boyfriend/girlfriend are drips themselves. And the flick takes its sweet time getting to their breakups anyway, being happy to be full of amusing misunderstandings and and misadventures.

There’s also a subplot involving their gay best friend who has come back home from Paris. Not to suggest that this subplot is the real main story because it’s not… but it feels like someone’s A plot crammed into a straight movie’s story. But its reasonably fun too and I liked its ultimate message about middle American towns.

I also liked the surprisingly mature resolution to the actual main plot. It’s remarkably mature for a rom-com and even throws in Billy Crystal’s theory of friendships from When Harry Met Sally. Maybe the end isn’t as satisfying from a rom-com angle, but I enjoyed it.

This isn’t the best rom-com out there but its a better than I was predicting when I hit play. It’s reasonably fun and it makes two smart choices about its A and B plots. Kiernan Shipka in particular came across charming and relatable… maybe a little less so Hiraga. His story arcs are fine though and you might like his Danny Zuko in the end.

Score: 76