When I sat down to watch Always Be My Maybe I thought this will be good, a romantic comedy written by well-regarded female comedy star, both leads are Asians so there is a new slant on an old formula.
I was wrong, aside from the lack of real chemistry between Wong and Randall what I saw is a romantic comedy that I have seen so many times before.
There are clearly big cultural references for American Asians in the film which whilst I have no handle on I’m not unaware enough to spot. The film could have been sharp and inciteful but instead was all too familiar, undercooked and sentimentally soft, like so many romantic comedies out there.
I wanted so desperately to really enjoy this film and I did laugh at moments during the runtime, so my virtual signalling and SJW credentials are prevalent but in the end I felt flat and disappointed for the run time. The whole film had a feeling of boilerplate. Proper vanilla-flavoured boilerplate.
There’s a particular scene that brought up some quick social media memes and got a lot of attention as soon as the film gained an audience when dear old Keanu Reeves popped up but in all honesty, it was a weird section of the film shoe-horned in and mostly was not that funny. The early restaurant part did get me chuckling but also I felt a bit uncomfortable, you cannot help feeling that a lot of participants in the movie probably go to establishments that serve that type of cuisine.
Always Be My Maybe felt like an extension of Fresh off the Boat and when it was pitched to Netflix it was an easy harmless option. Safe, tepid, nothing new to add to the genre and ultimately boring. But it did add another great film to the film-dud pantheon.
He's my unsolicited advice Netflix, use great comedic talent properly, be a bit daring, it’s not like you are losing money is it?
Review by DeletedBlockedParent2019-07-13T15:34:26Z
When I sat down to watch Always Be My Maybe I thought this will be good, a romantic comedy written by well-regarded female comedy star, both leads are Asians so there is a new slant on an old formula.
I was wrong, aside from the lack of real chemistry between Wong and Randall what I saw is a romantic comedy that I have seen so many times before.
There are clearly big cultural references for American Asians in the film which whilst I have no handle on I’m not unaware enough to spot. The film could have been sharp and inciteful but instead was all too familiar, undercooked and sentimentally soft, like so many romantic comedies out there.
I wanted so desperately to really enjoy this film and I did laugh at moments during the runtime, so my virtual signalling and SJW credentials are prevalent but in the end I felt flat and disappointed for the run time. The whole film had a feeling of boilerplate. Proper vanilla-flavoured boilerplate.
There’s a particular scene that brought up some quick social media memes and got a lot of attention as soon as the film gained an audience when dear old Keanu Reeves popped up but in all honesty, it was a weird section of the film shoe-horned in and mostly was not that funny. The early restaurant part did get me chuckling but also I felt a bit uncomfortable, you cannot help feeling that a lot of participants in the movie probably go to establishments that serve that type of cuisine.
Always Be My Maybe felt like an extension of Fresh off the Boat and when it was pitched to Netflix it was an easy harmless option. Safe, tepid, nothing new to add to the genre and ultimately boring. But it did add another great film to the film-dud pantheon.
He's my unsolicited advice Netflix, use great comedic talent properly, be a bit daring, it’s not like you are losing money is it?