Always Be My Maybe

[avrelia]

I watched, finally Always Be My Maybe. And it was nice. It’s pretty much what I want from romantic comedies: characters that feel alive (bonus for being closer to my age) and have good chemistry, not only of romantic kind, but a friendly one, and familial one. Funny lively dialogues, plot that doesn’t insult me and the characters, normal people solving normal problems in only slightly cheesy way. No last minute’s big stupid gestures. It’s a pleasure I don’t feel guilty about whatsoever.

I like watching people falling in love (or reading about them) and solving whatever problems that come along – it doesn’t have to be huge problems: she is a mermaid and he is allergic to fish. No.

Sasha and Marcus were childhood friends. She is American Vietnamese whose parents were always busy at work. He is American Korean, who lived next door to her in San Francisco. Sasha always felt more at home with his family than with her own, especially since his mom was cooking great home meals and always made her feel welcomed.

Then Marcus’ mom died, their friendship was kind of over, and Sasha moved on with her life, eventually becoming a celebrity chef.

Marcus didn’t move on at all.

One day Sasha moves back to SF to open a new restaurant and the story begins anew.

The more I think about it, the more I like it – it’s a small-scale movie, but everything there feels right, everything adds a right flavour: parents, friends, significant others, Keanu Reeves, location, food. It’s a joy, pure and simple.

If I can enjoy movies about aliens and superheroes, why can’t I openly enjoy romantic comedies? They are way harder to write, I think, and explosions won’t save boring script.