With tenderness, humor and beauty, “The Half of It” comprehends the chasm between wanting and being. Golden Age actress and singer Rhonda Fleming has died at 97. Now, “The Half of It” reflects sharpened ideas and a honed directorial voice. The Half of It cares so deeply about its characters, giving them space to explore their complexities. In its treatment of the Aster/Ellie relationship, The Half of It points out a double standard many queer teens face. Click the button below to start this article in quick view. Please consider making a contribution to Vox today, SNL takes on dueling Trump and Biden town halls in its cold open. What it’s about: For roughly its first two-thirds, Netflix’s The Half of It was the teen rom-com of my dreams. But there are warning signs all the same. Critical reception: Several critics have pointed out similar issues with the story but are more forgiving of it overall, thanks to the refreshing friendship between Ellie and Paul. An unlikely romance leads to popularity. Election of a board majority will shape the nation’s largest community college district. But when her family's financial need becomes too great, she has no choice but to help him. After Ellie does finally come clean and admit that she was the one writing Aster letters during an especially dramatic church service, she's not met with acceptance. If he was a Major League closer, his entrance music would be “Earthbound” by Rodney Crowell. But even with the painful beats sprinkled throughout the last half hour of the film, Wu lets her characters end up in a place that's neither unrealistically perfect nor grimly despondent. If the genre seems played out, or else rife with clichés, it’s a direct result of such exclusion. Ellie has decided to attend Grinnell. The return of “lock her up”: Trump won’t stop attacking Gretchen Whitmer. Expanding the field, as Netflix does, reveals that we still haven’t seen the half of it.” And Indiewire’s Jude Dry allows that “dramatically, The Half of It would have benefited from a more focused structure,” but concludes that Ellie is “such a refreshing and lovable character that you can’t blame everyone for wanting a piece of her, even if it’s only half.”. (The film’s ethos is still “be yourself.”). Your guide to the 2020 election in California. An opening narration about how the ancient Greeks believed that finding one’s soulmate was an act of finding the person who literally completed you is mirrored in a later shot of two characters floating in a local pool together, their faces reflected in the water below. While Aster possesses all the required traits of the popular girl — beauty, social currency, a handsome boyfriend, etc. Fans of the new Netflix romantic comedy “The Half of It” are hoping the film actually is only half of the story.. Writers Guild presses CAA and WME to end 18-month standoff over agency practices. Queer Cinema. The Netflix movie The Half of It never deals with the cheating behavior of its characters. It is all here. She’s Netflix’s next teen star. "I don't believe in God," Ellie admits. Disney+ adds new content warning for racist depictions in classic films. Although she specifies they are only “friends,” it isn’t out of loyalty to Trig — rather, it's because the date turned awkward when the real-life Paul fails to live up to his ghost-written letters. The Vanishing Half reminds me of The Guest Book in how well written and quotable it is. Polls: Senate races in Alaska and South Carolina are surprisingly competitive for Democrats. Here are the Los Angeles Times’ editorial board endorsements for president, California ballot measures and more. Rated PG-13 for brief language, teen drinking and the delicate throb of unrequited love. Though shot along the Hudson River in New York state, the film is set in the Pacific Northwest-flavored town of Squahamish, one of those fictional idyllic movie burghs where everyone wants to escape but rarely does. For viewers in search of an uncommonly smart, tender, and funny coming-of-age story, The Half of It has everything. He's perplexed, but he gets his explanation when Aster catches them, and Ellie starts to protest. Céline Sciamma’s 18th-century romance beautifully portrays the hiddenness of same-sex relationships. Ellie woos the equally intellectually curious Aster with Wim Wenders quotes and musings on art; Paul is the clueless face projecting those affections. Wu also deploys music creatively, including an original song written by Joe Pernice of the Scud Mountain Boys memorably performed by Ellie at a talent show; as well as weaving in tracks by contemporary artists such as Sharon van Etten and the Ruen Brothers alongside easy listening classics from John Denver, Gordon Lightfoot and Chicago that feel too on-point until the moment they improbably sweep you away into adolescent bliss. We believe in Truth & Movies. T een movies love big transformations: A handsome jock enters a dorky outcast’s life. It’s about friendship and family, the acceptance of self and others, and the freedom to be who you are and screw up royally along the way. The complete list of L.A. Times’ endorsements in the November 2020 election. When Aster and Ellie bond on a day trip to some nearby hot springs, they talk about God and Aster's faith. This post features spoilers for the ending of The Half of It. Just as she's about to pull away, Ellie goes for one final gesture. What issues are on the ballot in California and Los Angeles County. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. They’re cool. Zack Snyder’s Justice League Trailer Re-Done In 16-Bit Pixel Art, The Half Of It Ending Ignores The Movie's Huge Cheating Problem, What To Expect From Netflix's The Half Of It 2, How Netflix's The Half of It Compares To Sierra Burgess is a Loser, Spider-Man 3 Art Brings Emma Stone Back as Spider-Gwen, Star Wars Hints A Legends Superweapon Is Canon, Eddie Redmayne Interview: The Trial of the Chicago 7, Stephen King's IT: The Major Bill/Beverly Moment The Movies Leave Out, The Greatest Showman Basically Copies The Simpsons' Colonel Homer Plot, The Last Starfighter Reboot Will Be A Movie, Not A TV Series, Doctor Strange 2: Who Is America Chavez? His culinary inventions, like delicious-looking taco sausages, are embraced by Ellie and her dad. Synopsis. Where to vote. (Please, as if you didn’t stay up until 3 a.m. last night to watch every minute of this film the second it was available. The Half of It does not at first seem like it's all that explicitly about homophobic religious conservatism, but the politics of the town are baked into the visual iconography of Wu's film and her screenplay. Although the romance delves deep into concepts like the loss of a parental figure, xenophobia, and even growing up queer in a deeply religious environment, it certainly skims over … Nancy Pelosi sets a 48-hour deadline for getting a stimulus deal before the election. It's not a love story. Comment your thoughts and explain what you felt about the ending of the film!! Netflix’s The Half of It was the queer teen rom-com of my dreams — until it wasn’t The new movie features a winning lead performance, beautiful direction, and a messy script. Synopsis. He pants after her with a goofy smile plastered on his face, and her laughs morph into tears. Pelosi is still negotiating with the White House while Senate Republicans push their own stimulus bill. Aster's status is not simply because of her intelligence and good looks, but because of the role her dad plays as the spiritual leader of the community that is devoted to the church. Aster's relationship with "Paul" then crosses a line when she sets up their first date. But Alice Wu's The Half of It is truly not a love story, which makes it all the better. Alice Wu returns with Netflix's 'The Half of It,' a charming manifesto on love that mines both high school romances and classic movies. Rhonda Fleming, an actress and singer who starred opposite such leading men as Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster and Ronald Reagan, has died at 97. ©2020 Group Nine Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Get our newsletter in your inbox twice a week. LWLies Recommends, Review by Grace Z Li Paul, who is on the football team with Trig, has no qualms about romantically pursuing his teammate's girlfriend behind his back; however, when he discovers that she is in love with Aster, his initial reaction is to shame her by calling it a sin. Finally! For Ellie, the sole Chinese American student at her predominantly white high school, and a closeted lesbian in a hyper-religious small town, that requires something a bit different than a makeover montage. There are plenty of reasons to watch The Half of It nevertheless, starting with Lewis, who’s very good as the buttoned-down, awkward Ellie, a girl who seems to be a constant fixture in the lives of everyone in her high school but not really as a friend. As a woman married to another woman who comes from a town very similar to Ellie’s, it was the kind of story I wish I could have seen at 15. Wu’s second feature “The Half of It,” a smart, sassy philosophical treatise dressed up like a Hughesian high school riff on “Cyrano de Bergerac,” tells us exactly what it is in an opening animated bit and then proceeds to charm as it upends our expectations. In letters (or over text), you can be anybody and yourself at once, and Wu suffuses the film with a painfully mature understanding of the ache of longing for the impossible. The premise: Ellie ghostwrites papers and essays for the kids in her high school for a low, low fee. The pieces may seem familiar in “The Half of It,” but the way Alice Wu assembles them results in a fresh and inspired whole.. He previously served as a staff writer, senior researcher and copy editor. Lewis and Lemire are delightful in creating the requisite sparks. A Taiwanese American reflects on his strained familial relationships in Alan Yang’s immigrant drama. Then the end of the movie arrives, and everything falls apart in incredibly disappointing fashion. The end doesn’t see them together, but it does let Ellie finally kiss the girl.
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