To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before Synopsis: Lara Jean Covey writes letters to all of her past loves, the letters are meant for her eyes only. Until one day when all the love letters are sent out. Her life is soon thrown into chaos when her foregoing loves confront her one by one.
Netflix is really killing it with these rom-coms lately. To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before is the kind of movie I’ve been dying to see more of. Inclusive, heartwarming, and genuinely funny. Yes, it touches on a few rom-com tropes, but I don’t consider that to be a flaw if they’re done correctly – which they are in this film. Mostly).
I adored the cast. Lana Condor’s Lara Jean was smart and funny, with just enough snark to make her pretty damn endearing. She was a strong female lead who didn’t back down when the resident mean girls were trying to intimidate her (as the high school mean girls so often do in these kinds of movies), or when she was struggling with her own feelings for the boys in her life. Not only that, but she was relatable as hell. She loves Golden Girls marathons; she’s afraid of driving, has very few (one?) friends, and brings books with her on school ski trips (who doesn’t?).
Noah Centineo (so reminiscent of Mark Ruffalo that it was a little eerie sometimes) was charismatic as Peter, Lara Jean’s love interest. His character was so wonderfully fleshed out and proved that it could be interesting and compassionate and *still* be Mr. Popular in teenage rom-coms.
The two main leads clicked right off the bat, and I wish To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before had been made into a Netflix series just so we could have seen more of their relationship develop rather than jumping from month to month. If I had any complaints about the movie, it would be the supporting cast. I adored them all (more John Corbett please!), but I would have loved to have seen them given more depth.
Lara Jean’s best friend Chris (Madeleine Arthur) was a typical ‘free spirit’ best friend who loves Subway (a lot), but I would have loved to have seen more of their friendship during the course of LJ’s relationship with Peter. Gen (Emilija Baranac), Peter’s ex-girlfriend and LJ’s former best friend, was your cliched version of Popular Mean Girl who doesn’t seem to want Peter but has an issue with Peter supposedly wanting someone else.
There is a scene toward the end of To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before where Gen and LJ talk in the girls’ restroom that provides some insight into why their friendship may have ended, but it’s never really built on from there or comes to any satisfying conclusion. The bright spots are LJ’s family, her father (Corbett), and two sisters, Margot (Janel Parrish) and Kitty (Anna Cathcart, who steals nearly every scene she’s in).
I really loved To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. The acting, script, cinematography, and music all clicked in a way so many rom-coms fail to do these days. Highly recommend!
Watched: 09/07/2018
Notable Song: Cool Out by Matthew E. White
