Collette’s Review: Shortcomings

Ben (Justin H. Min), a struggling filmmaker and certified “film bro,” is as cynical and pessimistic as one could get. Shortcomings opens with a movie. A romantic comedy, to be exact, starring Stephanie Hsu and Ronny Chieng. If I’m correct, it may be a parody of Crazy Rich Asians. His girlfriend Miko (Ally Maki), who works for a local Asian American film festival, gushes about the film, while Ben complains that the characters didn’t show flaws and that it is too mainstream. This opening prepares you for how absolutely annoying Ben will be throughout the film.

Miko gets a wonderful opportunity to work in New York and pursue her film dream. Instead of being supportive and encouraging her, all Ben does is complain about New York and put her down. Ben’s best friend Alice (Sherry Cola) attempts to put him in his place, but she also does nothing to help the situation. We learn from Alice that Miko is not Ben’s “type.” Ben is actually into blonde white women. In fact, his infatuation is one of the reasons Miko is trying to flee from him.

Shortcomings is not a romantic comedy. It’s a raw film about a guy with many red flags who doesn’t believe that he actually sucks as a person. For women watching, we know this guy. We’ve all had a relationship or interaction with someone like Ben. And just like in this movie, the guy never realizes that they are the problem because they’re too busy blaming everyone else. What I appreciated is that no one tried to “fix” Ben. He had to realize that he was a terrible guy all on his own. That being said, his character arc is not the best. From a storytelling standpoint, we had nothing to root for. You don’t want Miko to come back running into Ben’s arms because she deserves better.

This film tiptoes around what it really wants to say instead of just going for it. It needed to put Ben’s issues on blast (including his fetish). That’s what Sherry Cola’s character should’ve been used for. Alice had a great arc. She was a serial dater who was afraid of commitment. But then she finds someone who changes her outlook on life. If she could’ve been more of a voice of reason to Ben, I think the film would’ve had a much greater impact.

Shortcomings is slightly funny and slightly dramatic. The lead character is absolutely insufferable, but its supporting character is a delight. A few side characters also have hilarious moments and keep the film moving. Unfortunately, Shortcomings has a huge pacing problem and becomes just a little dull in its second act. It is refreshing to see a movie bask in how unlikable and toxic its main character is because that’s life, and people don’t change. But it would have benefited from at least one person being the voice of reason.

This film will be released by Sony nationwide on August 4th.