THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR – Review

Ah, the Spring (don’t let the 90s temps fool ya’, it’s not technically Summer for a few more weeks), when hearts turn to love. But is there room for romance at the multiplex, with a certain Mr. Wick taking out a near-endless platoon of assassins just a couple screens down, next to naughty R-rated romp? Well, the studios seem to think so (a couple of the majors, at that), especially since this is based on a popular “young adult” novel (THE FAULT IN OUR STARS certainly did well five summers ago). Unlike that flick, there’s no “grim reaper” lurking about as he did a couple of months past in FIVE FEET APART, though, as we find out, there is a clock “ticking down” on our two incredibly photogenic TV star young lovers (speaking of timepieces, the story does owe a bit to the 40s “tear-jerker” THE CLOCK with Judy Garland). Oh, and one half of the pair is an aspiring college astronomy major, which is why she gets to state the title THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR.

After she narrates a post-title collage about humanity and her own past, we meet Natasha Kingsley (Yara Shahidi) at the start of a most stressful day. Because of recent immigration crack-downs, her family (who settled in NYC soon after she was born) will be deported back to Jamaica the next day. Despite her father’s pleas to pack her stuff, Nat races down to a government office. The fellow in charge has reviewed her thick stack of files but can offer no help. Ah, but he knows a “big time” lawyer who may grab the ear of a judge if she can see him that day. Meanwhile, young (18 like Nat) Daniel Bae (Charles Melton) is also feeling the pressure, as his immigrant family (from South Korea) prepares him for a meeting with a big-time lawyer who can help him get into Dartmouth’s medical school. ah, but he’s more of a poet writer (we know because he jots down “Deux ex-Machina” in his nightstand notebook). Later that morning he and a musician pal are killing time by people watching at Grand Central Station. There Dan spots Nat wearing a jacket with that Latin phrase printed on the back. Fate? Kismet? Destiny? Whatever, she’s also gorgeous so he dashes away to follow her. Luckily he yanks her to safety before a sportscar can slam into her as she crosses a street. Thanks and flirty banter ensue as he follows her to the lawyer’s office (which is the locale of his meeting, too). She’s told to come back at 4:30 PM, so the couple kills time by going to his family business (a black hair-care emporium), taking in a planetarium “star show”, and indulging in a Private Korean Karaoke room. He’s pouring on the charm, but Nat’s trying to stay cool since she could be flying out in a few hours. Despite all the forces conspiring against them, can these two connect and form a real relationship in just a day or so?

The two leads may be hoping to parlay their TV success into big-screen parts, but the lead roles don’t give them a real chance to showcase their skills. Shaidi, of the ABC sitcom “Black-ish” and its basic cable spin-off “Grown-ish”, is a compelling actress, completely conveying Nat’s fears and frustrations. She also shows that inner turmoil over giving in to her emotions while her family’s fate looms over her every move. Her co-star Melton, “Reggie” on the CW teen soap “Riverdale”, doesn’t have the full dramatic weight of the story on his shoulders, but he too shows that conflict, trying to reject the life his folks have planned for him while not making them feel rejected. For most of the film’s length, he’s zeroed in on Nat, but Melton takes what could be on obsessive almost “creepy stalker” role and imbuing it with charm while offering lots of smoldering stares for his many fans. The duo get solid support from their on-screen families (Jake Choi is a hissable baddie as Dan’s sleazy big bro’ Charlie), but the film’s other big “name” star, John Leguizamo (ha, you can hide from IMDB and Wikipedia, but you can’t hide from me, Mr. L) as the lawyer who is the focus of both leads, function mainly as a plot device (it’s a wonder that he’s not named “Machina”).

I must admit that director Ry Russo-Young makes the Big Apple look gorgeous, bouncing from burrow to uptown with not a full, overflowing garbage can in sight. Unfortunately, she can get little chemistry from the “lovebirds”, perhaps due to the trite and often ludicrous script by Tracy Oliver adapting Nicola Yoon’s novel (wondering if more went into the hair-styling decisions than the dialogue). Why is an intelligent young woman like Kingsley taken in by Bae’s (isn’t that a slang expression the youngsters use for boyfriend) promise he can make her fall for him in hours? And when is she finally gonna’ spill the beans on her family problem? Just what makes his limp rendering of a dreary semi-psychedelic tune “Crimson and Clover” makes her want to “get busy”? Then, after a silly awkward fistfight, why does Brother Charlie help them out? All the conversations about life and universe try to be a modern take on BEFORE SUNRISE, but feel more like the flick is just spinning its wheels until the audience-pleasing “tacked-on” epilogue (as you read the title card try not to think “After Thanos”). I wouldn’t have thought it, but the actual film of THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR is just as precious and pretentious as that title (where’s a black hole when you really need one).

.5 Out of 5