Movie Name/Year: Always Be My Maybe (2019)
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Length: 101 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Production/Distribution: Netflix
Director: Nahnatchka Khan
Writer: Michael Golamco, Randall Park, Ali Wong
Actors: Ali Wong, Randall Park, James Saito, Michelle Buteau, Vivian
Bang, Keanu Reeves, Susan Park, Daniel Dae Kim, Karan Soni, Charlyne Yi, Lyrics
Born, Casey Wilson, Miya Cech, Emerson Min, Ashley Liao, Jackson Geach, Anaiyah
Bernier, Raymond Ma, Peggy Lu, Simon Chin, Panta Mosleh, Karen Holness, JayR
Tinaco
Selina’s Point of View:
Netflix is just
killing it with romantic comedies. Their originals are hit or miss, but their
romantic comedies have been pretty on the ball for me.
I absolutely adored Always
Be My Maybe. There were a few scenes where I was laughing so hard, I could
barely breathe.
I’ll be honest, the
place I know Ali Wong (Ralph Breaks the Internet, The Hero, Father Figures)
from the most (aside from stand-up comedy) is Ask the Storybots (2016-2018).
That’s another Netflix original. It’s a kid’s series that doesn’t make me want
to rip my ears off and throw them at the screen. Unfortunately, that means that
I’ve seen the episode featuring Wong about 900 times (this week), so her voice just
kept bringing me back to Ask the Storybots. Totally not her fault. She rocked
her part.
Daniel Dae Kim (Hawaii
Five-O, Allegiant, Lost) also gave me a bit of a problem with his voice. He
voices a character in one of my favorite video game series’: Saints Row (2006-2015).
Never-the-less, he made for a hell of a believable cocky obnoxious manager.
I didn’t have as hard
a time with Randall Park (Aquaman, Ant-Man and the Wasp, The Interview).
Although I’m very familiar with him, this part separated him really well from
his past characters.
In fact, all the
actors were amazing.
As for that meme-able
Keanu Reeves (John Wick, Destination Wedding, Toy Story 4) scene? Fucking
hilarious.
This film tugged all
the right strings and pushed all the right buttons. I felt exactly what it
wanted me to feel at exactly the right time, but I didn’t feel manipulated into
it. I definitely had more of that ‘fly on the wall’ experience.
I think Always Be
My Maybe is worth watching.
One more note. For
some reason, Netflix is really good at taking a scene that shouldn’t stand out
and making it incredibly memorable. JayR Tinaco (Home and Away, Rake, Drown)
had just a few lines in a very basic scene, but I can’t get them out of my
head. They’re a newcomer to acting – according to IMDb – and I’m actually
really looking forward to seeing them in other stuff.
Cat’s Point of View:
At the outset, I enjoyed the trailer for Always Be My Maybe. It looked cute, and I’m a sucker for a good
play on words. Bonus? Keanu Reeves (The
Bad Batch, Destination Wedding, Replicas). I think it’s fairly safe to say
that I’ll watch just about anything he appears in. His film choices are fascinatingly
eclectic and cross an impressive span of genres. His part here was amazing. I digress…
Back to the movie at hand.
There are so many rom-coms out there that are practically cookie-cutter. It felt like this movie took a familiar recipe and then gave it a
little twist and a sprinkle of zest.
Two elements of this story stand out. First, I love the theme of
food and family that binds the overall plot arc together. There are so many
nuances that are well utilized to add heart and depth to the tale. The second
factor that jumps out at me here is that, while Ali Wong’s (Savages, The Angry Birds Movie, Father
Figures) character, Sasha, underwent somewhat of a caterpillar to butterfly
transformation; she didn’t inherently attempt to change herself to make her relationships
work. There are no makeover montages here, folks. No one tells her to ditch her
glasses to be fabulous – she rocked those lenses as high-end accessories.
Aside from the themes I’ve already mentioned, the film also
explores the concept of biological family vs. chosen family in addition to the
more obvious of friendship, love, and loss.
There’s a bit of awkwardness and cringe factor here, but it’s not
at an intolerable level and serves the story. There are moments in the dynamic
between Wong and Randall Park (Snatched,
Dismissed, Long Shot) that made me want to just squirm, but it worked
overall.
I’ve got to say that Michelle Buteau (Singularity, Sell By, Tales of the City) was my spirit animal in
this movie. Her confidence and sass as Wong’s bestie and business partner was
phenomenal. I’m also a big fan of the fact that her role challenges typical
stereotypes.
All told? I really enjoyed this movie. I wouldn’t mind watching it
again (especially for the epic song that plays during the credits), and I
certainly would recommend it.
Rotten Tomatoes Critic
Score – 92%
Rotten Tomatoes
Audience Score – 84%
Metascore – 64/100
Metacritic User Score – 6.9/10
IMDB Score – 6.9/10
CinemaScore – None
Trust the Dice:
Selina’s Rating – 5/5
Trust the Dice: Cat’s
Rating – 5/5
P.S. Scenes and a song, by the band in the film, plays during the
credits.
Movie Trailer:
No comments:
Post a Comment