Always Be My Maybe: Good, not Great!
Childhood sweethearts have a falling out and don't speak for 15 years, only reconnecting as adults when Sasha runs into Marcus in San Francisco. Although the old sparks are still there, the couple live in different worlds.
This movie had all the makings of a hit, but the binary nature of the movie was what changed its destiny from being a great movie to being a good movie.
First off, the storyline is pretty much basic and a cliché love story which in itself did not offer up much in the way of depth and plot conceptualisation. What it did however have going for it was good actors cast for these roles, and most importantly, it's a Netflix original. This should have spelt one thing impending; Creativity and a compelling story. On these two, it failed to deliver. Perhaps Ali Wong and Randall Park needed a little more storytelling classes before deciding to write this one?
For a story that is basic and heavily cliché, to make a compelling narrative you need to be creative with the plot and if possible create a concept. This is one of the aspects that really let the movie down, as the storyline technically merged with the plot theme. It was very difficult for viewers to deduce any theme from the movie due to the plain nature of its story, and this in turn meant that the movie had no concept upon which to thrive.
Now, a good movie writer will always tell you that it is easier and better to first identify the concept, create a plot and build a story around it. This allows you to try out different plots on the concept that in turn allows for the most creative storytelling. This movie on the other hand failed to deduce a concept, identified a plot and told the story in the simplest way possible. Thus, the story was heavily cliché, plain and really didn't offer much in the way of creativity, thrills, plot twists or even a conflict ( an identifiable problem), as it was easily deduced what would occur midway in the movie and at the conclusion of the film.
We really do not have any problems with telling a simple story( Oh my God, Triple Frontier so dearly needed this), but when writing a story of this sort where there has been a lot of both literary and cinematic expressions on a given topic, to make a difference means to create a different concept that allows room for a little creativity. That little creative writing is what sets the movie apart from others before it, thereby giving it it's own unique identity.
First off, the storyline is pretty much basic and a cliché love story which in itself did not offer up much in the way of depth and plot conceptualisation. What it did however have going for it was good actors cast for these roles, and most importantly, it's a Netflix original. This should have spelt one thing impending; Creativity and a compelling story. On these two, it failed to deliver. Perhaps Ali Wong and Randall Park needed a little more storytelling classes before deciding to write this one?
For a story that is basic and heavily cliché, to make a compelling narrative you need to be creative with the plot and if possible create a concept. This is one of the aspects that really let the movie down, as the storyline technically merged with the plot theme. It was very difficult for viewers to deduce any theme from the movie due to the plain nature of its story, and this in turn meant that the movie had no concept upon which to thrive.
Now, a good movie writer will always tell you that it is easier and better to first identify the concept, create a plot and build a story around it. This allows you to try out different plots on the concept that in turn allows for the most creative storytelling. This movie on the other hand failed to deduce a concept, identified a plot and told the story in the simplest way possible. Thus, the story was heavily cliché, plain and really didn't offer much in the way of creativity, thrills, plot twists or even a conflict ( an identifiable problem), as it was easily deduced what would occur midway in the movie and at the conclusion of the film.
We really do not have any problems with telling a simple story( Oh my God, Triple Frontier so dearly needed this), but when writing a story of this sort where there has been a lot of both literary and cinematic expressions on a given topic, to make a difference means to create a different concept that allows room for a little creativity. That little creative writing is what sets the movie apart from others before it, thereby giving it it's own unique identity.
With that out of the way, it is also interesting to know that the movie lacked any identifiable conflict. It's a RomCom and so we could have expected that there'd be no real conflict, but as we have seen with some other stellar movies, the fact that a movie is a RomCom does not prevent the writer from creating a little bit of conflict to allow for some thrills and excitement, plot twists and perhaps some brief moments of heart stopping seriousness.
As we had earlier pointed out, the fact that the movie was binary in nature did not truly rob it of all of its glitz. The actors were particularly adept at their work, and particular regards must be had to the recognisably efficient and smooth shift put in by the incredible duo of Ali Wong( Sasha) and Randall Park (Marcus) whose cohesion on screen ensured that there was no dull moment. The relativity that the movie created was due in large parts to the acting of these two. Their ability to work with a rough and basic script to create something beautiful is commendable at the least. And then there is the music. The movie through Marcus consistently delivered brilliant vocal rendition and that final song was everything sensational.
Another win for the movie was it's costuming. The team really came through with costumes that communicated the feelings that the movie so badly wanted to exude. Sasha Tran was elegantly dressed for most parts of the movie, enough to depict her as an elegant entrepreneur, while Marcus was well portrayed as an enthusiastic hustler, and all of these were pretty evident from just the dresses. We can rate the costumiers above average for such a splendid job.
And on a final note, the movie was good for reasons stated prior, and failed to be great for the reasons stated also. The movie had no high points and suffered no low points, it just delivered consistent relatable average humour. There is really no reason why it was being billed as the most sensational thing on Netflix over the weekend. It is pretty much an average movie, and one that we will leave to the discretion of our viewers. If you are a Sucker for love stories, this may be your cup of tea, and if on the other hand you are a connoisseur of the marvelous and the ingenious, then you may not really find this movie as amazing as you'd heard.
Directed by: Nahnatchka Khan
Produced by: Nathan Kahane, Erin Westerman, Randall Park, Ali Wong
Written by: Ali Wong, Randall Park, Michael Golamco
Starring:
Ali Wong
Randall Park
Music by: Michael Andrews Greyboy
Cinematography: Tim Suhrstedt
Edited by: Lee Haxall
Production company: Good Universe
Distributed by: Netflix
Produced by: Nathan Kahane, Erin Westerman, Randall Park, Ali Wong
Written by: Ali Wong, Randall Park, Michael Golamco
Starring:
Ali Wong
Randall Park
Music by: Michael Andrews Greyboy
Cinematography: Tim Suhrstedt
Edited by: Lee Haxall
Production company: Good Universe
Distributed by: Netflix
FCA's AppR: 6.9/10
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