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To All The Boys I've Loved Before (2018), Unrated, ★★★1/2


So, Netflix is slowly coming up with solid movies but there are movies out there that are very disappointing like Bright or Mute. Set It Up, a movie that I surprisingly enjoyed, was enough for me to get it distributed to theaters as a light romantic comedy but Crazy Rich Asians filled the void. However, Netflix is getting stronger with their coming-of-age stories with TV shows like Stranger Things and 13 Reasons Why, two different genres but with other movies like the now-released Sharna Burgess is a Loser and this movie. And, the bottom line is that this movie parodies the style of Wes Anderson to a great degree with a fantastic screenplay and an equally star-making performance.

Lara Jean Song Covey (Lana Condor) is a 16-year-old high school student who loves to fantasize about romance but is afraid to be committed to a romantic relationship. In previous years, Lara writes letters to boys she has had crushes on in the past, including three people currently in her life, Lucas (Trezzo Mahoro), Peter (Noah Centineo) and Josh (Israel Broussard), who has just broken up with her sister, Margot (Janel Parrish), who is off to college in Scotland. Lara Jean spends her nights watching/streaming shows and movies with her little sister, Kitty (Anna Cathcart).

Lara Jean wakes up the following night and notices Peter is holding one of her letters and she faints as she starts to freak out. Peter has a history with Lara Jean's former best friend, Gen (Emilija Baranac), in which she had a crush on him in 7th grade when she saw Lara Jean and Peter kiss while playing Spin the Bottle. Now knowing that Peter broke up with Gen, Josh also receives one of the letters and tries to get her attention. Knowing that there is an opportunity to get Josh to like Lara Jean, she and Peter sign a contract to be a fake couple.


This seems like a familiar set-up and it is but most movies with a familiar set-up, the movie reflects more on its journey than its destination. I think the journey has a couple of turns that you do not see coming and also scenes that are more complex than your usual teen flick. For example, there are a few nice conversation scenes between Peter and Lara Jean talking about expectations of love or love advice that is poignant and honest and then translates into a more truthful scene about their self-identity regarding their tragic family history. Also, I like the moment where they talk about the Long Duk Dong character while talking about Sixteen Candles.

The cast is actually exceptional across the board. But, Lana Condor gives an enchanting performance that is quite reflective on the real teenagers in everyday life. I believed her as an actual teenager who has problems trying to overcome the situations, where in a few scenes felt a bit contradicting even though heartwarming. I really liked Anna Cathcart as the little sister delivering a couple of quips and lines that were well-deserved for laughter. Noah Centineo portrays Peter not as a one-dimensional jock, but a jock that has layers of depth that you usually do not see in most teen flicks and he did a good job. John Corbett as the dad has a few great moments. Madeleine Arthur as Lara Jean's best friend, Israel Broussard and Janel Parrish are all good in their roles.

The movie does collapse a little bit towards the end where it gets predictable in which a cliche situation arises when the mean ex-girlfriend tells a misleading story causing the lead character to believe that her potential love is getting back with her. It is in a lot of movies and then it got inconsistent in its originality where one problem arises but it wraps up quickly like nothing happened. Director Susan Johnson does a remarkable job capturing the differences between the ideas of love (fantastical love) and realistic love in a teen story that sometimes truth hurts amidst a situation in which expectations and confusion arise until getting into its final destination. She does a good job of setting up music cues with a great soundtrack and also placing symmetrical camerawork that she obviously got from Wes Anderson. This is a movie that is well-deserved of the definition of a coming-of-age movie than the terrible, silly The Kissing Booth.

 This movie is rated TV-14 for sexual content/material, a few scenes of teen partying and for brief language. But, this movie is all right for teenagers and over.

***1/2


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