The Sun is Also A Star

Starring: Yara Shahidi, Charles Melton, John Leguizamo, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Miriam A. Hyman, Jordan Williams, Jake Choi, Keong Sim, Cathy Shim
Directed by: Ry Russo-Young
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama, Romance
2019

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A young man (Charles Melton) who believes in love tries to convince a woman (Yara Shahidi) who doesn't that he can get her to fall in love with him in one day.

Review:

Tim: The Sun is Also a Star is a bit of an unconventional title for a romantic drama, but this is somewhat of an unconventional film. It's based on a novel, but I know nothing about the source material, so I'm just basing this on the film. I thought it was a perfectly decent little film. It might be ultimately unremarkable and a little too forgettable, but this isn't a bad movie at all.

There's some interesting themes at play in this film. The heart of the story is similar to what you would expect- a boy and a girl fall in love, but there's challenges to them being together. The story adds some interesting elements- the girl's family is being deported, the boy feels intense pressure from his family to go into medicine. These unique spins were appreciated, as they give the film a slightly different flavor. I wish the movie would have pursued those a bit deeper, but it does address them. I don't know much about director Ry Russo-Young, but she did a decent job of juggling multiple topics here.

I thought the leads were fine, although I wasn't overly impressed with either. Yara Shahidi was decent in her role. I'm not sure if she was strong enough to really own her character, but she's a strong, intelligent character and I enjoyed how Shahidi depicted her. Charles Melton might have been a bit stronger. He gets to be more playful with his character and that was fun to watch. I wouldn't say Shahidi and Melton had a ton of chemistry, but they were fairly decent together. This feels like it was a bit of a weaker aspect of the film. The two leads are game and certainly put in the effort, but I never really felt that spark. There wasn't enough magic between them, which pulls the whole movie down.

The supporting cast was solid, although they don't get a ton of time to impact the film. I'm always happy to see John Leguizamo and I thought he added some with his small role. I wish he had more screen time, but it would have been a distraction from the rest of the film. Jake Choi did some decent things as well. As a whole, I didn't have any issues with the supporting players.

The film does submit some loftier ideas in an attempt to be more than your average romantic drama. It talks about the Big Bang, about humanity's role in the universe, about fate and destiny, and love. It all sounds great, but the movie mostly gives these heady topics lip service. It feels like dressing and never really dives into what these mean for the characters. This might be because the film was intended for a younger demographic, but the movie would have been better with a bit of a deeper exploration of these themes. It could have given it more substance. As is, this is a movie that does some things right, tries to be different, but ultimately feels too generic and forgettable.

It's probably not a surprise, but this movie was a failure at the box office. It cost only $9 million to make, but it only made $4.9 million domestically and $6.6 million worldwide. That's pretty bad and it speaks to an issue about how relatable or intriguing the premise was. I feel a bit bad about that, because The Sun is Also a Star is actually a pretty decent film. I didn't have major issues with it and there's been far worse movies in a similar vein. It might not be a good movie, but it tried to be different. It would have been better had more people checked this out (on the other hand, it would have been much better to get a good movie). In the end, this is a movie that will soon be forgotten and made almost no impact.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend:
Five Feet Apart, The Fault in Our Stars,