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THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR
Director: Ry Russo-Young Cast: Yara Shahidi, Charles Melton, Jake Choi, John Leguizamo, Camrus Johnson, Keong Sim, Cathy Shim, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Miriam A. Hyman MPAA
Rating: Running Time: 1:40 Release Date: 5/17/19 |
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Review by Mark Dujsik | May 16, 2019 When we notice that Natasha Kingsley (Yara Shahidi) is wearing a jacket with the term "deus ex machina" emblazoned on the back, we have pretty good idea of the kind of romantic story that The Sun Is Also a Star will be. When we see Daniel Bae (Charles Melton) write the same term in his notebook almost immediately upon waking up in the morning, we have a really good idea of the kind of romantic story this will be. Call the film schmaltzy and contrived and sappy and all sorts of other disparaging terms about the tone of this story, as well as the way that it proceeds. Call it manipulative and improbable, and chuckle whenever Natasha and Daniel meet completely by chance and, over and over again, find that their lives seem to be impossibly intertwined during the course of 24 hours in New York City. Do all of that. It's fine. I have to imagine that director Ry Russo-Young, screenwriter Tracy Oliver, and, even before the filmmakers, Nicola Yoon, whose novel the film is based on, probably had similar thoughts about and reactions to this story. The difference, one supposes, is that they still went through the writing and making of this story, likely with a knowing grin on their faces. This is meant to be manipulative and contrived and improbable and sappy. The story begins with no less than the Big Bang, before Natasha narrates herself into the relatively little corner of New York within the cosmos and the relatively miniscule sliver of her life within the eons of time. On such a scale, the very fact of our lives seems like an improbability. Why shouldn't romance, as wildly plotted and as dramatically exaggerated as it may seem in this story, possess the same feeling? To focus on and pick apart the random chances and coincidences of this story would be a grave error. This is a film that's all about a feeling—the feeling that love is possible, even in a world that seems as messed up as it is now, because the world itself is just a lucky break in the vast history of the universe. You either buy into this notion as a justification for a big-hearted romance between two, impossibly attractive strangers, or you don't. It's worth buying into, if only for 100 minutes. After her grand theory about the unlikely perfection of the universe, Natasha, a science enthusiast, reveals that her family, undocumented immigrants from Jamaica, are being forced to leave the United States the following morning. She has 24 hours to find a loophole or a sound legal argument to stay in the country she has called home for nine years. An immigration official suggests that she contact a lawyer he knows. Meanwhile, Daniel, the first-generation son of immigrants from South Korea, also has a big day ahead of him. His parents want him to become a doctor, and Daniel is scheduled to have an alumnus interview for his application to Dartmouth College. He would much rather become a poet, although he would never say this out loud to his family. Daniel spots Natasha in Grand Central Station while people-watching from a balcony with a friend. While they're looking down, Natasha is looking up at the designs of constellations on the ceiling. Daniel is stunned to see that aforementioned Latin term on the back of her jacket. Later, Daniel saves Natasha from a speeding car before she steps into an intersection. The two talk for a bit. Natasha reveals that she's a rational cynic who doesn't believe in love. Daniel reveals that he's a hopelessly optimistic romantic. He bets her that he can make her fall in love with him, if she gives him a day to do so. The busy Natasha gives him an hour, and Daniel takes what he can get. There is much, much more plot than this—and even more than that. Obviously, the two spend more than an hour together, thanks to Daniel resilience and a series of conveniences (Both were going to the same building, Daniel's interview is postponed, Natasha needs to stay in the area for a second meeting, etc.). A story such as this almost exclusively thrives or fails depending on the charm and sincerity of its central performances. Shahidi and Melton possess a degree of natural charisma—apart and definitely together—that certainly helps the film lean toward the success side of that dichotomy. This is vital on two levels. For Shahidi, she has to sell the notion that this stranger is appealing enough to interrupt Natasha's desire to stay in the place she loves, all the while maintaining the sense of desperation in her mission. For Melton, the challenge to keep Daniel away from coming across as a potential stalker. Both get it right, and by the end, we half expect the simplest solution to Natasha's problem to be a genuinely happy ending for the two characters. More importantly, though, we actually get a sense of these two as more than just pawns in some cosmically romantic game. They are actual characters, far more than looks, charm, and participation in a bunch of contrived events. Oliver and Russo-Young provide flashes of their pasts and their familial histories, as well as dreamy montage of how simple and fulfilling a life together could be. The Sun Is Also a Star is a hopelessly romantic gesture in seemingly hopeless times. It's worthy of admiration for that and, also, just how eager it is to make us believe in the impossible, as improbable as it may seem. Copyright © 2019 by Mark Dujsik. All rights reserved. |
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