Warning: This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Max’s Sweethearts!
Max’sSweetheartsis a zany breakup rom-com that keeps viewers laughing from the start to the entertaining ending, reaffirming messages about friendships, love, and relationships. The movie follows two first-year college students named Jamie and Ben, who have been best friends since childhood. When they embarked on adulthood, they decided to stay in a relationship with their high school sweethearts. However, a disastrous party helps them realize that they aren’t actually happy in their relationships anymore.
As such,theSweetheartsmain characters decide they need to break up with their romantic partners, Simon and Claire.Despite making a seemingly foolproof plan, their breakup pact goes horribly awry. They travel all over their Ohio hometown, getting into entertaining situations before they finally find the duo and break up with them. Unfortunately, Simon and Claire don’t take the breakups well, suggesting that Ben and Jamie are actually in love with and sexually attracted to each other.Sweetheartsreaches an emotional climax, resolving into a satisfying ending that answers the question about Ben and Jamie’s relationship.
Why Ben & Jamie Don’t End Up Together In Sweethearts
One of the most divisive elements in the HBO Max original movie is that Ben and Jamie don’t end up in a relationship. OtherSweetheartscharacters repeatedly imply the antiquated belief that such a close relationship between a young man and a young woman isn’t normal unless they’re in love or sleeping together. This is a common theme in thebest romantic comedies, and even theSweetheartstrailer makes jokes that suggest the men and women can’t be friends without wanting more.
Unfortunately, the thought gets into the duo’s heads, making them question whether they actually have sexual or romantic chemistry. They make out in a treehouse just to see if there’s a spark but don’t get the chance to talk through what happened since they’re interrupted by a firetruck arriving. The movie tries to fool the viewers by using songs in theSweetheartssoundtrack with titles like “Love Is an Accident” and “Nothing Can Change This Love” after their makeout session.
During the Thanksgiving montage, both characters also seem pensive and distracted, leaning into the idea that they could be thinking about their emotions after their kiss. In reality,both characters are worried because they don’t feel anything romantic and don’t want to lose their friendship.Ultimately, the movie takes the firm stance that platonic love is just as valid and important as romantic love.
The most prominent characteristic of Ben is the fact that he’s a pushover who puts others’ feelings and needs ahead of his own. He isn’t even able to get mad and stick up for himself when his roommate takes his car across the country for Thanksgiving vacation without any notice or permission. Given how codependent Ben is with Jamie, there’s a lingering, unspoken question throughout the movie about whether he will actually go to Copenhagen for his study abroad, despite his commitment to go.
Ben knows Jamie won’t be happy about his decision, and he also doesn’t want to lose his biggest supporter. Prior to the breakup, Ben also worries about whether his decision will hurt Claire. In the end, the fact that he follows through on going to Copenhagen shows that he’s recognized his people-pleasing tendencies and his co-dependant behavior, taking steps to make healthier choices.
Why Jamie Joins The Kappas
Jamie Learns To Lower Her Guard And See The World In A More Hopeful Way
Early inSweethearts, Jamie’s college roommate and friend discuss with Jamie their desire to join the Kappas, a sorority that does a dance marathon at the end of the year to raise money for St. Jude’s Hospital. They get excited, but the main character seems less than enthused at the idea of joining a sorority. She doesn’t want to have sisters who become lifelong friends that vacation together.
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However, by the end ofSweethearts, she joins the Kappas and is part of the dance marathon. This is a significant moment of character development, asshe wouldn’t have previously lowered her guard enough to make new friends or put herself in a new environment.
The pivotal moment where she starts to change directions occurs when she talks to Megan Mendelson in Duffy’s about the “homewrecker” incident. Surprisingly, the friend-turned-bully apologizes to Jamie for ostracizing her and saying terrible things about her, explaining why she acted out. This moment happens right before Ben calls out Jamie for constantly distrusting everyone and being hostile. In conjunction, these incidents allow Jamie to recognize that she can’t continue acting the way she does.
How Ben & Jamie Break Up With Claire & Simon
The Breakup Hijinks Makes Sweethearts A Hilarious Movie
The breakup pact between Jamie and Ben is the central storyline inSweethearts, but this doesn’t go as planned. They arrive late in their Ohio hometown with the intent of breaking up with Simon and Claire at Palmer’s house, but the pair aren’t at his house when Jamie and Ben arrive. The best friends then travel to a bar to meet up with their partners, but they once again miss each other. Finally, the breakups go down at the Drunksgiving party.
Claire tries to come onto Ben, but he keeps trying to have a serious conversation with her. At the same time, Jamie tells Simon they need to break up. When Claire realizes that Jamie and Ben planned to break up together, she starts yelling, telling Simon, and the pair storm off. While Jamie and Ben weren’t wrong in wanting to break up with Simon and Claire,the dumpees were right when they pointed out that the two were so codependent that they couldn’t do anything separately. The best friends didn’t consider whether the method of breaking up was kind or compassionate.
The Significance Of Palmer’s Coming Out Journey Explained
Palmer’s Story Shines A Light On People Finding Community In Unexpected Places
Max’sSweetheartsmight focus primarily on Ben and Jamie, but the movie also includes a subplot focused on Palmer coming out as gay. This storyline feels extremely disjointed from the main story, but that doesn’t make the messages any less important for LGBTQ+ viewers. Palmer’s coming-out character arc has a few takeaways. Firstly, there’s a pervasive narrative that LGBTQ+ people only exist in big cities because those communities tend to be the most liberal.TheHBO Max original moviepushes back against the idea, showing that the LGBTQ+ community can be found even in the least expected areas.
Additionally, the coming-out storyline emphasizes that thoughts of grandeur for LGBTQ+ people typically include living in a place where they’re accepted for who they are and not living a lie. This is a bleak reality, and it’s sad that most of us just want to feel safe – a bare minimum standard. Lastly,Sweetheartsshows that coming out isn’t always the magical fantasy people have in their heads, but that doesn’t make it any less validating.
Sweethearts' When Harry Met Sally Reference Explained
Sweethearts Is The Antithesis Of When Harry Met Sally
On Thanksgiving Day, Ben’s mom watches the movieWhen Harry Met Sallyon TV. The choice of movie is no coincidence. The classic romantic comedy, starring Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal, posits one theory – men and women can’t be friends without sex or romance getting in the way.Sweetheartsis a movie where the two main characters are a pair of mixed-gender best friends who everyone mistakes for a couple. Their platonic relationship proves the 1989 film wrong if they start a romantic or sexual relationship.
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As Ben watchesWhen Harry Met Sally, he realizes that the antiquated idea is wrong. While Harry and Sally decide to risk their relationship by confessing their feelings of romantic love, Ben chooses to risk his relationship with Jamie by confessing his feelings of platonic love. Ultimately, the ending, in which Jamie and Ben remain strictly platonic best friends, functions as the movie’s thesis statement, which is the antithesis ofWhen Harry Met Sally’s ending and core message.
The Real Meaning Of Sweethearts’ Ending
The end ofSweetheartsmakes a clear statement that platonic love is just as meaningful as, if not more than, romantic love. When Jamie and Ben decide to be friends after their kiss, the lead characters’ friendship is strengthened and lifted up as a significant relationship. There’s never a moment at the end of the movie where their love, albeit non-romantic, isn’t validated.
At the same time,the movie also makes it clear that no person should serve as an emotional crutch. The two main characters find a way to maintain their relationship while they’re each taking steps towards a better version of themselves. For Jamie, that means learning to trust others and see the world in a less cynical way. For Ben, that means putting his needs first and learning to set healthy boundaries. These two core messages inSweetheartsbring modern rom-coms into a new world that doesn’t flatten the various forms of love and enable bad behavior.
