THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR: Doesn’t Shine

I like romances. They leave me feeling warm and fuzzy inside and allows me to, in a world that Twitter has convinced me is filled with hate, watch two people fall in love. But romances, like any other film genre, should be taken seriously. I don’t mean you can’t have fun watching them, I only mean that because a film is a romance, it shouldn’t get a pass for what it lacks.

The romance genre is often the butt of the joke. Which joke? Any of ’em. The Hallmark and Lifetime film studios have their holds on the genre, and have led us to believe that the genre is formulaic, stale, and repetitive. But why does it have to be? Why can’t we expect more from romance? I had this in mind while watching The Sun is Also a Star, because the film was so rigid, awkwardly scripted, and halfheartedly acted that I felt myself mourning the loss of a genre that has been forced into mass marketed mediocrity.

But let’s back up and get into just what The Sun Is Also A Star is all about. Adapted from the novel of the same name, The Sun Is Also A Star tells the story of Natasha Kingsley (Yara Shahidi). A Jamaican born teenager stressing over the fact that her family is going to be deported in 24 hours from the film’s beginning. She meets Daniel Bae (Charles Melton), a college-bound aspiring poet who believes in fate and love (Natasha finds both to be ridiculous. Go figure!) After meeting in a near-death experience (as you do), Daniel tells Natasha, the cynic, that he can make her fall in love with him in just 24 hours. And bam, we have ourselves a teen romance.

Timely Troubles

I should use this moment to interrupt and say that romances work on me. I can suspend my disbelief with ease to watch two people fall in love, and probably end up bawling my eyes out alone in the theater (and I was the only one in my theater). And for what it’s worth, I think this film has a great premise. Having Natasha fighting against the clock of deportation gives the film a sense of urgency. We have a conflict to drive our story along, and it has our “heroes” fighting against certain odds.

And in 2019, a teen romance where the antagonist is deportation is brilliant. The Sun Is Also A Star doesn’t spend as much time as I’d like focusing on the unjustness of Natasha’s deportation, nor does it dig too deeply into her family’s reaction to leaving, but the sentiment is there, and I do recognize that this film is one that hits hard in today’s political climate. This movie will be worth it if it makes any teens watching realize, “Hey, it’s kinda messed up that she got deported!”

Cliches: We Got ‘Em

One of the pitfalls of romance films is the cliched dialogue. Lines that we’ve heard over and over again that are each time meant to be delivered with new sincerity, but come off as lazy writing. The Sun Is Also A Star is no exception to this plague. The title of the film comes when Natasha ponders why there are tons of poems about the stars and love, why not about the sun? The sun is ALSO a star!

And I…*sigh*…what? If I walked over to my bookshelf right now and pulled out one of my college english textbooks and threw it against the wall, when it fell to the floor, I can nearly guarantee that there would be a poem about the sun staring up at me. It’s not that this line is inaccurate so much, there are lots of poems about stars, but the baselessness of the claim is what bugged me. That Natasha, who we’re led to believe is some sort of brilliant wannabe scientist, is just assuming something to make a point, and from this the title of the film is gleaned?? Sorry, movie, do better.

There’s another moment that I haven’t stopped thinking about since I heard Daniel say it in the film. Near the climax of the film, Natasha finds out that her family is going to be deported, despite her efforts to plea for their citizenship. She runs away crying and Daniel chases her down and asks if she’s afraid of the deportation or them being together. What’s she REALLY afraid of? And again…I…*sigh*. I don’t even know what to say about that one. You’re sweet Daniel, but I’m almost positive it’s the deportation, buddy.

The Sun Is Also A Star does its job. It’s got easy-to-like leads and a bit of pretty cinematography that can keep audiences interested on the big screen. But it falls prey to the humdrum curse of countless other romance films by pairing a roughly edited script with poor decision making when it comes to major plot points. What could very well have been an important political romance shrinks sadly to another unremarkable meet-cute.

What did you think of The Sun Is Also A Star? Will we ever be able to rescue romance from the mediocrity that has taken it captive? Let me know in the comments below.

The Sun Is Also A Star was release in theaters in the US on May 17, 2019 and will be released in the UK on August 9, 2019. For all international release dates, see here.