Following in the steps of previous features such as “The Kissing Booth” and “Set It Up,” “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before” illustrates Netflix’s effective attempt on reviving the, once declared dead, romantic comedy genre. Based on the novel with the same title written by Jenny Han, the great highlight is Lana Condor (Jubilee in X-Men: Apocalypse) as 16-year-old Lara Jean. Condor delivers a charismatic performance and her on-screen chemistry with Noah Centineo’s Peter Kavinsky will likely have at least half of the audience swooning and the other half trying to hide it.
Whenever Lara Jean Covey found herself with a new and intense crush she thought the best way to understand her feelings was to put them on paper, more specifically, in love letters. She had only been in this position a handful of times throughout her young life, which means she ended up with 5 addressed letters secretly hidden in her closet. However, she was not expecting them to actually be delivered to their recipients. Now, as Lara Jean begins this new – some would say exciting – chapter of her life called junior year of high school, she’s going to learn that there’s a fine line between fantasy and reality and sometimes that line can disappear with one quick trip to the post office.
Even though the story is far from being free of cliches (handsome jock, adorable boy next-door, mean popular girl) the plot line is far from ordinary and the production touches deep subjects such as the importance of sisterhood and family support. The movie overall is a fresh breeze for anyone looking for an original take on a classic genre.
The feature was directed by Susan Johnson and released August 17th on Netflix. Author Han has recently revealed in a New York Times article that she had to fight to make sure the leading role of Lara Jean was going to remain Asian-American. According to her, all the production companies she met with asked permission to whitewash the role – something not so unusual in the entertainment industry. Luckily, there were alternatives that had no interest in changing the original idea and the feature ended up being produced by Awesomeness Films and Overbrook Entertainment, the latter company owned by actor Will Smith.
Even though the target audience is mainly aimed at young adults, people from all ages can benefit from this movie that does its best in avoiding an over the top plotline and has a phenomenal cast that delivers it perfectly.
