Film Review: 'The Half of It'

Fitting in has never been Ellie Chu's (Leah Lewis) specialty. A high school senior living in the small dead-end town of Squahamish, Ellie is largely only known for two things: being her school's only Chinese-American student and running a side business selling term papers. It's through this business that Ellie meets Paul Munsky (Daniel Diemer), a jock on the football team seeking Ellie's services for a different purpose: to rewrite a love letter to his crush Aster Flores (Alexxis Lemire).

In desperate need of the money, Ellie reluctantly agrees to rewrite the letter. But before she knows it, Ellie's helping Paul continue romancing Aster via letters and texts. All the while, Ellie is surprised by how much she begins to enjoy spending time with Paul--and by her own budding attraction to Aster. Caught between her newfound friend and newfound love, which path will Ellie take? One thing's for sure: this love story isn't going to be a tidy one.

It's ironic that budding teen heartthrob Wolfgang Novogratz (last seen on this blog playing Nick in last year's Feel the Beat) should also appear as a supporting character in The Half of It. He made a similar appearance in fellow Netflix original Sierra Burgess Is a Loser, with both films following the same "Cyrano de Bergerac in high school" premise. It's in the execution of that premise that The Half of It deviates greatly from its predecessor. Not only does it lack many of Sierra Burgess Is a Loser's problematic aspects, but it presents the viewer with some richly written and portrayed teen protagonists who draw you into the story with their relatable personalities and compelling character arcs.

As was probably made clear in the synopsis, the main trio of The Half of It consists of Ellie, Paul, and Aster. All three are played excellently by their actors, even if their characters aren't given the same level of attention. Leah Lewis and Daniel Diemer are the MVPs of the cast, molding Ellie and Paul into dynamic characters you'll instantly love and root for. Ellie is a lovable Deadpan Snarker with a soft side while Paul is an endearingly scatterbrained deconstruction of the Dumb Jock archetype. While he has plenty of brainless moments, Paul's quick to show that he isn't the hopelessly love-dumb idiot Ellie initially takes him for. Whenever Paul gains the courage to use his own words rather than parrot Ellie's, the result is pretty adorable. Awkward as all get out, but adorable nonetheless. Lewis, meanwhile, strikes a fine balance between Ellie's vulnerability and maturity. While Ellie snarks on Paul a lot for how little he knows about love, Ellie isn't much of an expert on the subject either--even if she refuses to admit it at first.

Lewis and Diemer take on Ellie and Paul's awkwardness and uncertainties incredibly well and mesh with each other perfectly as the two become unlikely friends. As Ellie and Paul grow closer, Lewis and Diemer allow you to see how that friendship changes the pair for the better. Ellie learns to open up again while Paul learns to have confidence in himself. SPOILER ALERT Ellie's friendship with Paul even opens his eyes to the prejudices of Squahamish. While he initially responds badly to finding out Ellie is gay and interested in Aster, Diemer plays it so you know that Paul's not a homophobe. He's just been fed the same hateful false rhetoric many small-town churchgoers have been exposed to. And it's through the change Ellie inspires in Paul that he begins thinking for himself, rejects that learned bigotry, and apologizes to his friend by affirming Ellie's right to love and be loved. The fact that he does so in church adds another layer of heart to Paul's turnabout. Spoilers Over

Ellie and Paul's friendship ends up being the centerpiece for The Half of It, so seeing a platonic bond depicted as being just as loving and fulfilling as a romantic pairing is refreshing. Though in the long run, this does come at a cost for one Aster Flores. It's fitting that the above poster has Aster blurred out, as she's the least focused-on of the main trio and (comparatively) the least developed. While Aster's far from an uninteresting character, she spends a good chunk of the movie as the average Miserable Popular Girl type that's been seen in plenty of postmodern teen dramas. And with her not getting as much screentime as Ellie and Paul, Aster gets limited opportunity to grow. As such, we only get fleeting glimpses of Aster's insecurities and the strain she feels from having to conform to the expectations of her father and community. It left me feeling only halfway invested in Aster's character arc.

Thankfully, the film has Alexxis Lemire's great performance to make up for what Aster lacks in characterization. Even during Aster's rushed relationship development with Ellie and the logically flimsy Cyrano scheme (Aster apparently never approached Paul during the letter correspondence phase and was somehow not turned off by their horrific first date), Lemire brings sincere emotion to her quietly troubled character. While we don't see a lot of Aster's home life, enough crumbs are left to show us how being raised by a controlling religious father (played by Enrique Murciano) has left Aster unhappy and confused about who she is and what she wants. Anyone who's ever felt confined by the expectations of others for one reason or another is sure to sympathize with Aster, regardless of how static her character feels compared to Ellie and Paul.

(Also, an Aster-based nitpick: it's weird how the film completely glosses over how Aster and Paul are dating while the former is still in a relationship with Trig. That's a pretty big deal that you'd think would be a source of conflict or at least get mentioned once)

The depth given to The Half of It's primary teen characters is made more noticeable by the utter lack of depth surrounding them. In stark contrast to the three leads, Squahamish's other adolescent residents consist of nothing but archetypes. All girls who aren't Ellie or Aster are vapid and two-faced and all boys who aren't Paul are bullies and narcissistic tools. The girls are the worse offenders of these two stereotype cliques, being the ones who are more over-the-top in their flatness. Wolfgang Novogratz at least has the charm and talent necessary to make über-vain Trig Carson a funny comic relief character. Of the adult characters, Collin Chou's Edwin Chu (Ellie's widowed father) makes the biggest impression with his meager screentime. Initially making a bad first impression as a neglectful father leaving his daughter to take care of his responsibilities, Edwin gradually becomes more attuned to Ellie's feelings and opens up to her and Paul about his grief.

Script-wise, writer/director Alice Wu ties up all the plot threads in a sweet but satisfyingly realistic way. SPOILER ALERT A hiccup occurs during the otherwise strong church climax, with the cartoonish crowd gasps disturbing the empowering yet poignant exchange between Paul, Ellie, and Aster. Wu's realist approach can especially be felt in how Ellie's relationship with her father concludes. While he's made progress in dealing with his sorrow and has a better relationship with Ellie than he did in the beginning, it's clear from how Edwin bids farewell to her as she heads off to college that he still has a ways to go. Spoilers Over The writing aligns with Wu's unique and thought-provoking direction, with only a few lines here and there coming across as trying too hard to be profound.

While a relative fledgling in the film industry, Alice Wu's sophomore offering makes for an engrossing feature that has a lot more depth than most would give the teen rom-com genre credit for. The main leads play their colorfully written characters to near perfection, Wu's direction gives the atmosphere and setting texture, and the script brings the story's central relationships to life beautifully. Wu also deserves credit for how she infuses her story with statements on the perils of rural life (namely the backward thinking so commonly associated with such areas) without letting them override the plot. If the morally challenged entries in Netflix's teenage romance catalog have left you weary, I seriously recommend giving The Half of It the chance to rebuild your faith.

Score: 8.5 out of 10 Yakults.