By Stephanie Mayo
“Change is hard for assholes like us,” says Sherry Cola's character Alice, the protagonist's lesbian best friend.
The protagonist is Ben (Justin H. Min), the main "asshole" in actor Randall Park's hilarious directorial debut "Shortcomings," which had its world premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, and its New York premiere at Tribeca the same year.
Working on a tight script by Adrian Tomine (adapted from his 2007 critically acclaimed graphic novel), Randall crafts a comedy brimming with wit and snappy dialogue buoyed by a terrific ensemble cast.
The opening sequence is a glossy vignette of racial discrimination with schlocky dialogue. But this is not Park's movie. It's the movie Ben just watched in a theater, which is a playful jab at the game-changing "Crazy Rich Asians" and at the Asian community's need for Hollywood representation. Well, not the entire community. Some Asian Americans like Ben (who suffers from "aftershock cringes" from the movie) are insulted by this.
From the moment we see Ben's disgusted face as the end credits roll, with wild applause thundering around him, including from his film-festival worker girlfriend Miko (Ally Maki), we already know he's a snobby film bro.
But Ben is more than just a haughty Japanese American cinephile who stands by his "expert" opinions. A failed filmmaker (he dreams of becoming the next Éric Rohmer), he runs an art-house theater in the Bay Area and spends his free time immersing himself in the Criterion Collection.
He scoffs at New York for being "overrated” and rolls his eyes at all this fuss about race, but clearly sees White people as the more superior race. In fact, he has an obvious fetish for blonde women.
He is not afraid to speak his truth (no matter how nasty) among fellow Asians and often finds pleasure in belittling their tastes. While timid and tactful around the blonde, blue-eyed folk, sometimes he unwittingly exposes his real self even among them. His inner jerk comes out, and he cannot help it. And it's funny.
In the clever hands of Park and Tomine, Ben's complex character still manages to be endearing, consistently earning our sympathy. We can't blame him if he's insecure, or if — as Alice stated — he has an "inherently bad personality."
If Greta Gerwig's uncomfortably juvenile character in Noah Baumbach's trenchant comedy "Frances Ha" earns a soft spot in your heart, then Ben's unlikable character, who has a hard time clicking with people, hits the same way. In one way or another, we have a piece of Ben in us, too. And we forgive him because he's not really a bad guy.
The film catches Ben at his rock bottom, in his mid-30s, feeling like a loser, with his romantic relationship falling apart. Min ("Umbrella Academy,"
"After Yang") lends his main character such authenticity that we suffer from second-hand embarrassment from his poor social skills, but at the same time we hope that he survives his series of catastrophes.
"Shortcomings" may be labeled as a "platonic rom-com" given Min's electrifying dynamic with Cola's scene-stealing Alice, with their onscreen friendship serving as the life-saving raft in Ben's sea of mini-tragedies. We all need an Alice in our lives, someone who loves us despite our flaws.
But more than a rom-com, this indie gem is humorous, cutting, and a timely commentary on race, culture, assimilation and sexuality in a contemporary setting. It does not preach, but allows its sentiments to shine through its multilayered characters as they navigate the modern dating scene, where things can get really messy.
The dialogue is sharp and effortless, the conversations naturally flow with unabashed honesty. It does not shove any sort of worldview down our throats, or try to boost any community's self-esteem.
More than an Asian or LGBTQ+ representation, what this understated comedy-drama truly represents is us, human beings, and all our, well, shortcomings.
