Si tu savais

I'm really liking this recent trend of teen romances that take an insightful look at the nature of love. Following on from the likes of To All The Boys I've Loved Before, Every Day, and Love, Simon, The Half Of It is an earnest and perceptive high school romantic drama.

Saying that, however, it's nowhere near as clever as it thinks it is. While its focus on the nature of love is engrossing at times, the film regularly attempts to deconstruct romantic tropes, yet falls into the trap of using them itself.

And that's a real shame, because there are things about The Half Of It that are a real breath of fresh air in this genre. I love the way that it shies away from a generic story about the high school social ladder, and I absolutely love the lead performance by Leah Lewis.

But this film just doesn't hit home on the deeper level it really needs to. It undermines its often genuinely insightful perspective on love with either cheesy or predictable plot twists and narrative devices.

There are times when the film forges its own path a little more, particularly in a wonderful aside in the early third act where Lewis and her crush, played by Alexxis Lemire, spend time together. However, as a part of the film's overarching romantic narrative, it doesn't hit home quite as strongly.

That's why I found The Half Of It such a disappointing watch. It has some wonderful moments that should stand among the best in modern teen romances, while Leah Lewis' assured and charismatic yet strikingly vulnerable performance is enormously memorable.

But in the midst of a story that doesn't really work, and a perspective on love that's not quite as clever as it thinks it is, the film really doesn't have the resonance and insight it's aiming for.

Not every gay person has to go through the "self-identification"stage, and I was impressed that the film didn't exaggerate at this point. Because this is just a story about...love...

Netflix suggested that movie and even in the trailer I thought that looks promising. Little did I know that this would be an overachiever. It is cleverer than the usual coming of age and finding yourself stories.

The power lies in the writing and in the direction. I don't wanna knock the cast they are all fine but they are not the strength of the movie. It is the writing with a very clear constructed story with very well established themes and a well formed character arc for our protagonist that is also reflected in the supporting cast. This is not about sexual orientation it is about finding your true self in life and standing for what you are. It is about the sacrifices and work that you put in the relationships with the people you care about.

Good writing and very well constructed scenes make this movie easy to watch, and to live vicariously through these characters. To remember what it was like when you were at that odd place in live where everything is "messy".

This is a path to the understanding of what it means to love. That movie makes you think. It is well wrapped with tiny details that connects everything together. I must say there are a lot of crappy teenage highschool love movies on Netflix. But nothing like this one. I just wanted to relax and it made me emotional. I'm happy it did.

Just didn't get the last 10s. What's the secret meaning of it?

The Half of It is solid. Yeah, it's not perfect but it takes a trope that has become repetitive over the years and puts its own spin on it. I'm talking about that trope where a person who's probably popular likes someone, but has nothing in common with them or is just plain dumb, and so they have to ask the less popular character for help... and the plot usually progresses in the same way too; the love interest realizes that the popular character is not who they have been falling for all along and then chooses the less popular one in the end. It's pretty basic stuff that has been seen over and over and over again. And movies have tried to take a spin on it before; Sierra Burgess Is A Loser being one of the latests examples. But while Sierra Burgess failed, The Half of It succeeds at making that spin compelling, insightful and just straight up wholesome. Honestly it's a very difficult trope to fix, especially with the changing times, a lot of people are sick of the manipulation that can take place in these types of stories, not to mention the lying and scheming. And what I think The Half of It gets right is the understanding that what can make or break this trope are the characters, their dynamics and their motivations. And oh my goodness the two main characters in this movie are a delight. Yeah they make mistakes, but it's usually never out of a place of malice or selfishness. And I believe that the development of their friendship is what makes this story worth watching. This is not just a cliché teen romance. It's a movie that tries its best to capture the essence of being a teenager navigating friendship, love and life in general; and honestly, I think it does a pretty good job at it.