‘Shortcomings’ Movie Review [Sundance 2023]: Randall Park Crafts a Solid Directorial Film Debut
Fresh Off the Boat actor Randall Park has a firm grasp on comedic timing in front of the camera, but he stepped behind it for the Sundance Film Festival romantic comedy, Shortcomings. Adrian Tomine’s screenplay doesn’t have the most likable protagonist, although the film’s buoyant personality and terrific ensemble cast make it stand out from the pack.
‘Shortcomings’ navigates a relationship crisis
Ben (Justin H. Min) is a filmmaker having difficulty breaking through in his career in Berkeley, California. He lives with his girlfriend, Miko (Ally Maki), who works for an Asian American film festival, but they argue about a lot more than they should. He works as an arthouse theater manager during the day, although he still holds out hope for his passion to become his career.
The filmmaker has an obsession with white, blonde women and watches arthouse cinema in his own time. He finds solace from his relationship troubles with Miko in his best friend, Alice (Sherry Cola), a lesbian grad student who has dating difficulties of her own. When Miko leaves for the internship of a lifetime in New York, Ben is left to figure out what he really wants in life.
Individuality and finding what you want
Ben and Miko’s personalities naturally clash, as their disagreements on small topics turn into all-out arguments. All of the male theater employees gush over a new, blonde-haired worker named Autumn (Tavi Gevinson), who also catches Ben’s eye. Miko already knows what he’s thinking about when she happens to see her at his work, in addition to finding pornography on his computer only featuring white, blonde women. Miko feels that he has an excuse for everything, while never admitting to the truth.
Shortcomings finds Ben thrust back into the world of dating when she wants to take a break during her internship in New York. The world opened itself up to him, but he quickly realizes that his fantasies aren’t based on reality. He has somewhat of an identity crisis without Miko actively in the picture, putting him on a path to rediscovering his own individuality. Meanwhile, Alice is afraid of commitment, frequently ghosting women she led on when it becomes “too real.” Neither of these friends knows what they really want.
Ben has an ideal dating type, but he has hangups when it comes to interracial couples. He interrogates what society assumes about white and Asian people dating, especially when gender comes into the mix on whether an Asian man is dating a white woman or vice versa. His incredibly abrasive personality pushes others away, but it’s all a defense mechanism for his own deep-seated insecurities.
‘Shortcomings’ is an engaging coming-of-age rom-com
Park’s direction and Tomine’s screenplay play by some of the coming-of-age rom-com tropes, but they also interrogate them. Shortcomings places an intentionally grating character in the lead, but he won’t find all of his answers in his relationship with Miko or in pursuing any sexual encounters with other women. He’s acquainting himself with the man who he really is and what he wants out of life, making the romantic part of this story actually the least compelling part.
A terrific ensemble cast introduces stellar chemistry, providing the film with an abundance of personality. Ben is thoroughly unlikable, but Min finds the tender parts of the character and makes him a bit more tolerable. The rest of the supporting cast is filled out with Ex Machina‘s Sonoya Mizuno, Veep‘s Timothy Simons, Spider-Man: No Way Home‘s Jacob Batalon, and some fun small cameos.
Shortcomings is an irreverent comedy that grounds itself in heavily flawed characters that aren’t afraid to probe their own unlikeable natures. Its very existence questions the rom-com tropes that audiences have glazed over for years, but Park’s directorial feature film debut is willing to make you uncomfortable to make its point.
