The Half of It

The Half of It is a really adorable romantic comedy slash best friend story, and I just loved it from start to finish. Well... maybe not all the way to the finish. Writer–director Alice Wu (have you seen Saving Face? If you haven't, you should watch that tonight) doesn't quite nail the ending here. It just doesn't soar in the way that it should. Or... well maybe I'm changing my mind even as I write this. The ending is not about Ellie Chu and the girl she loves (or thinks she loves); the ending of the movie is about Ellie's relationship with her best friend Paul. And that part of the ending is satisfying. It was always about Ellie and Paul. I guess the poster makes that clearer. A different kind of love story indeed. Ok. I'm kind of won over now. 

In many ways this is a typical teen comedy. It uses many of the same tropes as the other movies in its subgenre. But The Half of It just does all of those tropes so much better.