2020, Alice Wu (Saving Face) -- Netflix
Speaking of Asian Americans and stories of identity (writing a bit of these posts after writing or publishing OTHER posts just messes with the timeline), this is a Faustian (dude, not EVERYTHING is a Faustian deal) a story with a Cyrano-ian deal between two high school students, Ellie Chu (or choo choo, as the local racists call her, based as much on the fact she lives in a train yard, as her last name; Leah Lewis, Nancy Drew) and Paul Munsky (Daniel Diemer, The Midnight Club), small town hero & sausage king. He loves Roxanne Aster (Alexxis Lemire, Cerebrum) but ain't so good at the talking, so he has Ellie, known for writing everyone's English essays, to write a letter to be given to her. And thus begins a blossoming romance built on deception and lies. Always a great way to start things (Well, that is how dating apps work, right? Dunno; never used a dating app and haven't been on a date since the 80s).
Given that Paul is not very bright, that he thinks that breaking the ice via a letter written very well and mentioning a bunch of stuff that Aster would be into, but he has no clue about, he also doesn't consider what comes after he breaks the ice and actually dates her. He says he's good at the dating bit, just not at the breaking ice bit. He also doesn't catch on until very much later, until he and Ellie have become real, legit friends, that Ellie also likes Aster and the words come from her heart.
The movie has fun with the Cyrano parts but the best parts are the connective tissue, the character building and the plot that connect them all. Ellie has to make money because her dad only works the very minimal job at the train yard. He's an engineer, not that kind of engineer, but not with an education from the US. He is also dealing with the loss of his wife, Ellie's mother, a love so utterly part of his personality that he spends every night watching the movies she loved. And Aster is so obviously not the cliche she is presented as, dating the ultimate bro, tied to her very Christian family, but deeper than she let's anyone know. And Ellie is gay, but doesn't let anyone know; small town and all that. When Paul figgers everything out (big ol #facepalm) he is not only upset at Ellie's motivations, but also that she is gay. He knows he's supposed to not like homosexuality, and Ellie did kind of betray him, but she's also his best friend. So, he strains his brain and thinks it through. In the end, everything doesn't quite work out but it gets to a good place. And that is often the best place that a love story built on deception can get.
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