Review of Always Be My Maybe (2019) by Sethuels — 06 Jun 2019

People on this site seem very upset by the idea that there can be a movie whose characters happen to be Asian. But this is a fantastic RomCom, with the characters’ and actors’ background as incidental to the plot as any movie about Italians in Brooklyn or Irish kids from Boston. If all you’re seeing is a movie about Asians, you’re completely missing the point.

The simple fact is that Ali Wong and Randall Park wrote themselves a hilarious showcase for their immense talents. Park in particular breaks out a number of skills I didn’t know he had. Beyond that, while it does echo several common RomCom tropes, it does so in ways that don’t feel forced. The movie doesn’t break much new ground beyond its portrayal of a culture that otherwise gets very little screen time, but it doesn’t need to. It’s a RomCom, and it’s one that is funny, charming, and hits you in all the feels. I was sad when it was over, and that’s not something I often say about movies in this genre.