Shortcomings

When life doesn't quite turn out as planned, it's easy to become frustrated, cynical and embittered, falling into a trap of unrelenting wallowing and victimhood from which it's difficult to escape. But what will staying in such a rut accomplish? That's the harsh reality that an aspiring but unsuccessful Bay Area filmmaker (Justin H, Min) must face when his plans never materialize as hoped for, circumstances that taint his overall outlook and impact other areas of his life, such as his increasingly strained relationship with his live-in girlfriend (Ally Maki). To address these issues, he frequently seeks the advice of his best friend/confidante, a wisecracking, serial-dating lesbian (Sherry Cola) whose own life is more than a little dysfunctional. Their friendship is thus essentially tantamount to an ongoing exercise in misery loves company. But the unfulfilled auteur is suddenly and unexpectedly forced to get off the dime when his significant other announces that she's moving to New York to accept an internship, leaving him alone in Berkeley. So what is he to do now? That's what he's about to find out. However, this unforeseen time by himself proves to be a dual-edged sword, an opportunity for newfound personal freedom but also a time in which he's forced to get his life back on track, a dicey struggle in many respects - not to mention one filled with ample unanticipated fallout. This smartly written offering is full of eye-opening, unexpected plot twists, but they never feel forced, and they're often quite revelatory about the protagonist's true nature. In doing so, the picture successfully and intriguingly combines multiple genres, including romantic comedies tinged with elements typical of character studies, matinee dramas and hard-hitting social commentaries. Debut director Randall Park has also infused this release with an array of biting one-liners and a pervasively edgy quality when it comes to the true nature of relationships, an attribute not unlike that found in films like "(500) Days of Summer" (2009), "Bros" (2022), "Crazy Rich Asians" (2018), and even such Woody Allen projects as "Manhattan" (1979) and "Annie Hall" (1977). What's more, "Shortcomings" is not afraid to show the unflattering sides of otherwise-likable characters, a theme frequently seen in the movies of filmmakers like Nicole Holofcener. Because of all this, there's a certain brusqueness to the narrative and the characters that some viewers might find off-putting, but that's also one of this production's innate beauties in that it serves up an unbridled authenticity not often seen in pictures like this. Even though this release had a brief theatrical run late last summer, it's largely gone unnoticed. Thankfully, however, it's now available for streaming online and makes for a frank but refreshing watch compared to many other comparable offerings, one that gives us all a lot to think about.

Of course, a protagonist can be a loser, but he or she has to have something of quality that the audience can fall in love with or even at least can relate to or root for. Ben is controlling, unfaithful, negative, and being a racist himself. Most importantly, he's the biggest hypocrite. All the other things, he can be loved by character development, but he does what he despises and criticizes without any moral conflict. That's when the audience drops any interest left in him. The ending is weak as well.

As Randall Park's directorial debut, 'Shortcomings' is not bad at telling the story and continuing it smoothly without any huge leap of logic.

Saw this at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival

"Shortcomings" is a story about a trio of young Bay Area urbanites--Ben Tanaka, Miko Hayashi, and Alice Kim--as they navigate a range of interpersonal relationships, traversing the country in search of the ideal connection. This is Randall Park's first debut feature and I gotta say it's a pretty good first time directing project. Shortcomings explores about friendship, love, narcissism, and growth revolving around Asians or Asian American communities. I wasn't fully wowed by anything from the movie but I was still able to connect with the movie.

Park is able to capture the interesting chemistry between the cast members and the modern setting with some fun humor and personalities explored. The performances from each cast members was really good and Justin H. Min does a pretty good job portraying a man child of a person. The camerawork wasn't too special but it was good for the overall setting. The production is good and some of the dialogue was well-written and funny.

However, the story does become pretty predictable as it continues. A generic rom-com story where predictable movements were going to happen. But without Park's charms and chemistry, it would have been like a bad hallmark movie. Despite having some good dialogue, there were some dialogue moments that felt really awkward or forced and I am not sure if that was intentional or not. If it was intentional then I can understand but if not then those dialogue moments were pretty rough. Some of the supporting characters were a little annoying. Even with my gripes, I was still able to be entertained throughout this film.

By all means, it's a decent romantic comedy with good pacing and interesting concepts explored. I'd recommend for those who wanna have a drink or two and watch it for fun.

Rating: B-

"Shotcomings"... Man, I've had bigger laughs watching paint dry. I mean, the previews had me thinking this was going to be the comedy of the year. Remember those? Hilarious. But the movie? A couple of chuckles here and there, but mostly crickets. And what was up with that plot? More like "What plot?" If movies had arcs, this one was stuck in the flatlands. Honestly, by the end, I was just sitting there thinking, "Did we really need this movie in our lives?" I guess I set my hopes too high. Thought I was in for a comedy feast but left feeling like I just had a light snack. Bit of a letdown, tbh.

Shortcomings is a film I had been wanting to see for a while, but because of the underwhelmingly lukewarm response it received from other reviewers I was not in a hurry to spend my money just to be disappointed. But I am glad I finally watched it!

I'm definitely part of the target demographic which isn't strictly Asian-American, it's more of anti-romantic comedy for older urban Millennials who are still struggling with being adultier adults at 35 or 40. There was also a lot of queer representation. I started laughing out loud at the obvious dig at Crazy Rich Asians in the first five minutes. Yet there's also a poignant shift in perspective closer to the end of the story.

Ben is every "too cool to like anything" mildly toxic masculinity trope from my generation. Apart from the chip on his shoulder about being perceived as less macho as an Asian man, he's stereotypically every suburban white guy from younger Gen X or older Millennial high school and college who mocked people for liking certain bands, was always too full of himself to watch certain movies. I've had relationships with men like Ben when I was younger. I think calling him a narcissist is going a bit too far, but he's definitely immature and can be deeply unpleasant because his own insecurity in his masculinity makes him passive-aggressive and hostile like a permanently 17 year old black rain cloud on other people's joy.

His best friend, Alice, is an equally sharp-tongued and emotionally unavailable lesbian force to be reckoned with and her own growth over the arc of the story is implied to inspire Ben to finally grow up, too.