For those who don’t live in New York, it must seem like an enormous city, teeming with people and activity, where you can disappear into the throngs. For those of us who live here, we know that New York is really a small town where you’ll run into your ex on the street or a chatty acquaintance on the train who wants to talk all the way to your stop. (Didn’t they bring a book?) And whether they’re coincidence or fate, these chance encounters and their nature are at the mushy, gushy heart of “The Sun Is Also a Star,” director Ry Russo-Young‘s romantic teen drama based on Nicola Yoon‘s novel.
High school student Natasha Kingsley (Yara Shahidi) has just one day before she and her family have to leave New York City for their native Jamaica. She’s tried multiple avenues that would allow them to stay, but their case has been closed by immigration and they’re being deported. On her way to meet an immigration attorney (John Leguizamo) for their last shot, Natasha narrowly misses being hit by a car in Chinatown, thanks to the quick thinking of Daniel Bae (Charles Melton), who is en route to a college interview for Dartmouth. He had been following her after he glimpsed her in Grand Central Station and then caught sight of her again downtown. She says she doesn’t believe in love, but he promises that he can make her fall for him in a day, using these 36 questions and science. The two teens travel around New York, enjoying the city and each other’s company as fate – or randomness – keeps bringing them together, making Natasha question if destiny is real.
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Parental expectations and practicality define Natasha and Daniel’s choices for much of the film. Natasha dreams of space and the stars, but she sees a better career path in data science. Meanwhile, as the first-generation son of Korean immigrants, Daniel feels forced into becoming a doctor, despite his real desire to become a poet. Things get more interesting for the teens when they push back against the “right” choices and move toward what they actually want out of life. However, we never really get a sense of Natasha or Daniel having lives beyond their families or each other. Natasha is desperate to stay in her beloved New York, but her friends never really figure into the equation.
The name of the president is never mentioned, almost like he’s the real-world version of Voldemort and merely mentioning him gives him power. However, Donald Trump hangs over the film like a melted creamsicle-looking specter, with his immigration policies at fault for the Kingsley family’s impending deportation. “Girls Trip” writer Tracy Oliver‘s script saddles the two compelling leads (who are both just insanely attractive) with all kinds of dialogue that doesn’t feel like how humans talk, but the real world creeps in through changing immigration policies and their effects on actual people. Melton, in particular, has to deliver a lot of super sappy dialogue, like “The universe wants us to be together.”
As the poet in the relationship, Daniel is the romantic one to Natasha’s logical brain. He’s a dream boyfriend, and he made our theater swoon, despite his cheesy lines. They audibly giggled, like the 2019 equivalent of the studio audience ooh-ing over a kiss on “Saved by the Bell.” (Help me, I’m old.) It’s all effective for its target demo (largely thanks to Melton’s looks and charm), though mileage will likely vary if you’re old enough to rent a car. Russo-Young’s last movie, “Before I Fall,” was another YA adaptation, and she does do a good job of capturing the thrills of young love here. A hand-holding scene in the American Museum of Natural History’s Hayden Planetarium is one of startling intimacy and sweetness and might even win over the cynics. However, it’s not a coincidence that there’s no dialogue in the scene, and it just lets the appealing stars and the director’s visuals work without being hampered by the script.
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In the rest of “The Sun Is Also a Star,” Russo-Young’s stylish montages give Natasha and Daniel flashbacks, as well as dive into astronomy, The Big Bang, and multiverse theory (totally normal topics for your average teen drama). However, there’s a distracting haziness to the cinematography from Autumn Durald (“Teen Spirit” and “Palo Alto“) that left me cleaning my glasses to no avail. Elements are sometimes weirdly out of focus; it seems random at times, like there’s something wrong with the digital file, but it’s a choice by the DP and director Russo-Young. It’s a shame because it’s otherwise a lovely, sun-dappled film where everyone glows like they’re properly hydrated and using their serums, and it’s perpetually the golden hour in the city’s streets. The film’s sense of time is similarly fuzzy, which is particularly odd for a movie that should be so focused on every minute given Natasha’s limited time in New York. Instead, there’s rarely a true sense of urgency, and minutes crawl by.
Early in their day, Daniel tells Natasha of his elements for falling in love, “My ingredients are friendship, chemistry, the X factor,” and he assures her that they have that last one. But that’s what “The Sun Is Also a Star” lacks: that ineffable quality that makes it work. Though we spend nearly two hours in its presence, it never makes us fall in love with it, despite its best efforts. [C-]