The anti-rom com “Shortcomings,” a new film directed by Randall “Fresh Off the Boat” Park and now playing in theatres, is brave enough to center its story around an annoying twerp whose pretentiousness is matched only by his negativity and the ignorant remarks that fall so effortlessly from his lips.
Based on the 2007 graphic novel by Adrian Tomine (who wrote the script), Justin H. Min plays the antisocial Ben, a wannabe filmmaker and Berkeley arthouse theater manager. He has lots of personality, all of it bad. He says in school he was discriminated against, but not because he is Asian.
“It was because of your inherent bad personality,” says his BFF Alice (Sherry Cola).
“Exactly,” he says.
When his long-suffering girlfriend Miko (Ally Maki) accepts a temporary internship across the country in New York, he uses their “break” to selfishly dip his toe back into the dating pool. He pursues Autumn (Tavi Gevinson), a young performance artist who works at his theatre, and strikes up a relationship with Sasha (Debby Ryan), a friend of Alice who just broke up with her girlfriend.
When he realizes that he didn’t know what he had until it was gone, it’s may be too late. “Is this your rock bottom,” asks Alice. “High school was my rock bottom,” he replies unconvincingly.
“Shortcomings” does a great job of making, and keeping, its main character as toxic as possible. Director Park and Min make no attempt to shave down Ben’s rough edges, or make him more agreeable. But as unlikable as the self-loathing character is, he is compelling in his toxicity. Min is fearless in his portrayal of Ben’s foibles and flaws, and yet you feel empathy for him because he is so lost. As Alice says, “change is hard for assholes like us,” and it’s up in the air if Ben has it in him to put in the effort to embrace the change that will make his life better. It’s an unbending character you don’t normally find in movies with a romantic edge.
Clocking in at just under ninety minutes, Park’s economical film is stacked with ideas.
“Shortcomings” delivers laughs—Ben and Alice are a playful odd couple—and examines cultural expectations, but it really succeeds because of its uncompromising character study.
An aggressive but damaged comedic persona goes back to school. It worked well when Rodney Dangerfield did it in 1986 but will it work as well a second time? Melissa McCarthy hopes to find out with this week’s release of “Life of the Party.”
The “Bridesmaid” star plays enthusiastic domestic engineer Deanna, devoted wife of Dan (Matt Walsh), mother of senior year university student Maddie (Molly Gordon). When Dan unexpectedly dumps her, abruptly ending their twenty-three year marriage, she takes control of her destiny. “What am I going to do?” she asks. “Take spin classes? Oh no. I don’t want to start a blog.” Instead of any of that it’s back to school for Deanna for the first time since Counting Crows topped the charts.
Enrolled at the same university as her daughter, Deanna blossoms. Embracing life around the quad she discovers everything she missed during her marriage. Her journey of self-discovery includes hanging out with Maddie’s friends and getting friendly with the campus frat boys.
Like “Back to School,” “Life of the Party” isn’t a particularly good movie. The first half is brutal, with so few laughs its hardtop even label it a comedy. The second half is much better but still, scenes end when it feels like they are just getting started or at least like there is one better joke to come. When it really goes for laughs between beyond Seanna’s sentimentality, self-help platitudes and momisms, however, it earns them. A mediation scene is laugh-out-loud, the relationships gel and Maya Rudolph needs to make the jump from supporting roles to the above the title star.
Mostly though, the film features the relentless likability of Melissa McCarthy. I’m not sure she elevates the material (which she co-wrote with her director husband Ben Falcone) but she brings some heart to it and in this story of a mother and daughter, that’s enough.
