In August, my wife and I saw the movie Shortcomings at the Spectrum Theatre in Albany.
It begins strong, watching a re-creation of a pivotal scene from the film Crazy Rich Asians. The conversation about that film was a legitimate point of discussion, including the disdain of CRA by Ben (Justin H. Min), a struggling Asian-American filmmaker and operator of a none-too-successful movie theater.
Ben’s girlfriend, Miko (Ally Maki), is often exasperated by him, usually for good reason. He riffs off his cynical worldview with his friend Alice (Sherry Cola). When Miko goes to New York City for a couple of months, Ben fulfills his predilections, which he had denied, when he meets Autumn (Tavi Gervinson) and then Sasha (Debby Ryan).
The story is based on a 2007 graphic novel I have not read. It was written by Adrian Tomine, who also adapted the screenplay. Actor Randall Park related to the storyline and chose it as his movie directorial debut.
My feeling about the movie is mixed. The theater workers are fun. I was most interested in Alice, who has the most intriguing story arc. Miko is MIA for much of the film, so we don’t see the development.
Meanwhile, Ben is pretty much the same guy until near the end. It’s spot on when he’s more than once told that he’s disliked, not because of his race, but his personality. He’s a tiresome guy who thinks he knows everything, even when he doesn’t. I’ve known people like him IRL, and they, too, are mighty annoying.
Fetish
Yet the film did touch on some critical themes about race, sex, and the fetishism that may exist in that space. I wish it were sharper.
Also, based on the trailer, I thought the movie would be funnier. Because I saw the bits coming, they were much less humorous in the film.
My wife liked it more than I did; she found some revelations surprising. It’s not a terrible movie; perhaps I had overly high expectations. FWIW, it was reviewed reasonably well, with 83% positive by the critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
One last thing: props to my wife for recognizing Debby Ryan as the title character in Jessie, the 2011-2015 TV series our daughter used to watch.
