Premise: An Asian American asshole stumbles through his relationships and life to realize that maybe he's the problem.
The best way I can describe this movie is "What if Ray from Girls was Asian American and lived in Berkley?" On paper, that sounds great. Ray became one of my favorite parts of Girls because of how well he cut through the bullshit. He was full of shit a lot of the time, but his indignation was sincere. As much as I enjoyed him though, I realized he worked best as a supporting character.
That's very much the same in Shortcoming as well. I'm with Justin H. Min's Ben much of the time. I'd probably be friends with him. We are kindred assholes in a lot of ways. I needed a break from him though. Especially given how many of his problems were of his own doing.
The movie overall is light on its feet. In his feature directorial debut, Randall Park assembles a strong assortment of underused actors and made a movie that plays really easy. He's not working out his demons with this. Adrian Tomine's screenplay, from their own graphic novel, is really incisive about a specific kind of Asian-American experience. An unsteady balance of indignation and assimilation.
Shortcomings is an easy watch although with frustration from a lead character who can't get out of his own way. It didn't take me very far by the end, but not all stories of personal growth have to be radical.
Verdict: Weakly Recommend
No comments:
Post a Comment