The Half of It

Last updated

The Half of It
The Half of It poster.jpeg
Release poster
Directed by Alice Wu
Written byAlice Wu
Produced by
  • Anthony Bregman
  • M. Blair Breard
  • Alice Wu
Starring
Cinematography Greta Zozula
Edited by
Music by Anton Sanko
Production
company
Distributed by Netflix
Release date
  • May 1, 2020 (2020-05-01)
Running time
104 minutes [1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Half of It is a 2020 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film written, directed, and co-produced by Alice Wu. It stars Leah Lewis, Daniel Diemer, and Alexxis Lemire, with Enrique Murciano, Wolfgang Novogratz, Catherine Curtin, Becky Ann Baker, and Collin Chou in supporting roles. It is loosely inspired by Edmond Rostand's 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac , and follows a Chinese-American student helping a jock classmate woo a girl whom, secretly, they both desire.

Contents

The film was released worldwide on Netflix on May 1, 2020. It received positive reviews from critics, who mostly praised Wu's direction and screenplay, as well as the performances of Lewis and Diemer. It was honored with the Founders Award for Best U.S. Narrative Feature at the 19th Tribeca Film Festival, while Wu was nominated for Best Screenplay at the 36th Independent Spirit Awards.

Plot

Ellie Chu lives in the remote town of Squahamish with her grieving widower father, where she performs most of his station master and signalman duties. She makes extra money by ghostwriting essays for her classmates. The socially ostracized Ellie is secretly interested in Aster Flores, the beautiful daughter of the minister who is reluctantly dating Trig, a narcissistic popular boy from a wealthy family.

Ellie's next-door neighbor Paul Munsky, an inarticulate football team member and part of a family sausage business, asks Ellie to help him by ghostwriting a love letter from him to Aster. Ellie eventually agrees to help in order to help pay her family's bills. Posing as Paul, Ellie begins a heartfelt correspondence with Aster about their shared interests in art and literature through letters and text messages.

Ellie's supportive English teacher encourages her to apply to Grinnell College after noticing the proficiency of the essays she ghostwrote, but Ellie plans to attend the University of Washington and stay in Squahamish to be near her father.

Ellie sets up Paul on a date with Aster, but it goes poorly due to his obtuseness and poor conversational skills. Ellie plans to stop helping Paul, but reconsiders when he defends her from bullies. Ellie begins teaching Paul about art and literature so he can convincingly portray the persona she has created for him with Aster.

Ellie watches from outside the restaurant as Paul's second date with Aster starts off as badly as the first. In a desperate bid to save it, Ellie sends Aster text messages via a user account she and Paul secretly share, while Paul plays along by pretending to type on his phone. The next day, Paul tells Ellie that he kissed Aster - without encouragement from her, and despite their telling Aster that Paul wanted to keep their relationship platonic - unnerving Ellie.

Paul thwarts bullies' attempts to sabotage Ellie's school talent show performance, and she earns a standing ovation. Later, Paul is moved by the discovery that Ellie is secretly writing to regional food critics, attempting to gain recognition for Paul's culinary innovation, the "taco sausage".

Aster takes Ellie to a secluded hot spring where they share an intimate conversation. Ellie discusses her atheism, while Aster reveals that Trig intends to marry her. After Aster takes Ellie back home, Aster comes across Paul, and questions him, verifying that he believes in God, in contrast to Ellie and some of the things she has said during their correspondence. From her bedroom window Ellie watches Aster pull Paul in for a kiss, after which she decides to send the application to Grinnell.

At a school football game, Aster cheers for Paul, but Paul is more thrilled by Ellie's cheers and with her motivation scores the team's first touchdown in fifteen years. Afterwards, mistakenly perceiving them to have developed feelings for each other, Paul attempts to kiss Ellie, but she rejects his advance. They realize Aster has seen this happen, and she leaves, looking upset. Paul intuits from Ellie's reaction that Ellie loves Aster. Shocked, he dumbly repeats religious dogma, saying that Ellie is a sinner and will go to hell. Later, when Paul delivers meat to Ellie's father, they have a conversation about the meaning of love. Paul comes to terms with Ellie's sexuality and chooses to love her as she is.

Trig publicly proposes to Aster at church, only to be stopped by Ellie and then Paul, who lectures the congregants about love and authenticity. Aster recognizes Ellie's words from a previous letter and realizes that Ellie had been the one writing to her all along. She slaps Paul and storms out.

Before leaving for Grinnell, Ellie apologizes to Aster for deceiving her. Aster tells her she has decided to reject Trig's proposal and attend art school to develop her painting, which Ellie encouraged, and admits feelings for Ellie. Ellie kisses Aster and tells her that she will see her in a couple of years.

Paul, now confident about innovations he wants to make to the family business, sees Ellie off at the train platform, promising to continue visiting her father. Imitating a scene in Ek Villain , a film they watched and discussed together, Paul runs alongside Ellie's moving train, provoking Ellie's laughter along with tears.

Cast

Production

Alice Wu started writing The Half of It in the aftermath of the 2016 United States presidential election. [2] [3] The screenplay drew inspiration from the 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand. [4] [5] In April 2019, it was announced that Leah Lewis, Alexxis Lemire, Daniel Diemer, Becky Ann Baker, Catherine Curtin, Wolfgang Novogratz, and Enrique Murciano joined the cast of the film, with Wu directing and Netflix distributing. [6] Anthony Bregman of Likely Story, M. Blair Breard, and Wu served as producers, and Likely Story's Erica Matlin and Greg Zuk executive produced. In June 2019, it was announced that Collin Chou had joined the cast. [7]

The film's name alludes to love as discussed in Plato's Symposium - which was cited in the opening sequence [8] [9] and structured various visual motifs. [10]

Filming

Principal photography began on April 22, 2019, in New York, and concluded on May 31, 2019. [11] [12]

Release

The Half of It was scheduled to have its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 18, 2020. [13] [14] However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival was postponed. [15] It was released on May 1, 2020. [16]

Wu did a test screening in a small conservative suburb to know how those morally aligned against the movie would feel about it. She was surprised that "[p]eople marked the film as ‘excellent’ and they said they're politically conservative". She gleaned that "there are a lot of closeted people who are actually starting to change their mind", and that Netflix could better reach them—even though a theatrical release would "be better for you as a filmmaker in terms of cachet". When probed by a Netflix executive on her intentions for writing the film, she realized that "people are not going to go to the theater to watch this movie but in the privacy of their own home". [14]

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 97% of 104 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.8/10.The website's consensus reads: "For viewers in search of an uncommonly smart, tender, and funny coming-of-age story, The Half of It has everything." [17] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 74 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. [18]

Decider said the plot is "an unbearably cute premise—a modern-day Cyrano de Bergerac with a queer twist—that seems so perfect and so obvious, it’s a wonder the movie hasn’t been made yet", and "an adorable teen film that will no doubt service an extremely underserved audience." [19] Rolling Stone praised the direction, stating that "the gentle touch Wu uses as a filmmaker, which only occasionally drifts into tidiness, does not dull the edges of her quietly revolutionary achievement in telling the story of a young lesbian immigrant’s journey to self-acceptance. In a movie brimming over with the pleasures of the unexpected, that’s the best part." [20] The New York Times noted that "Wu suffuses the film with a painfully mature understanding of the ache of longing for the impossible." [21]

Bitch magazine wrote that "while these teenage-focused [...] movies flirt with the idea of lesbian relationships, they quickly pivot before their casual interest can evolve into any fully realized romance", with the film's story seeming "to be more about the halfway happiness Ellie's given: maybe some acceptance, maybe a friend, maybe a first love. It's not the happy story we were sold via the trailer, and it feels like more promises that only halfway delivered." [22]

Leah Lewis told Teen Vogue in an interview on 1 May 2020 that: "Most people think a love story has an equation, and that's usually boy meets girl, girl meets boy, or girl meets girl." However, in this case "[i]t's a self-love story because these characters don't really end up with each other, but at the very end, they end up with something. For me, that's even more valuable than just finding your other half; it's finding a part of yourself along the way. It is a love story, it's just not a 'romance' story." [23]

In a post dated May 22, 2020, A.O. Scott recommended it as his top film of 2020 so far. [24] Similarly, Educating Georgia's film expert Steph called it their film of 2020 in their retrospective of the year. [25]

Christy Lemire on RogerEbert.com found the film's "languid" pacing to be a double-edged sword. [26]

Accolades

The Half of It won the top prize, the Founders Award for Best U.S. Narrative Feature, at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival. [27] [28] [29] [30] The film was nominated for Best Screenplay (for Wu) at the 36th Independent Spirit Awards, [31] [32] and for Outstanding Film – Limited Release at the 32nd GLAAD Media Awards. [33] [34]

References

  1. ↑ "The Half of it". Tribeca Film Festival . Archived from the original on February 27, 2021. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  2. ↑ Erbland, Kate (April 29, 2020). "Alice Wu Made a Fresh, Queer Love Story in 'Saving Face,' So Why Did a Follow-Up Take 16 Years?". IndieWire . Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  3. ↑ Bui, Hoai-Tran (May 1, 2020). "'The Half Of It' Is Director Alice Wu's Ode To Platonic Soulmates [Interview]". /Film . Archived from the original on September 27, 2022. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  4. ↑ Komonibo, Ineye (May 1, 2020). "Netflix's The Half Of It Puts A Gen-Z Spin On A Classic Play". Refinery29 . Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  5. ↑ Lachenal, Jessica (May 2, 2020). "'The Half Of It' Gives A Classic Play The Queer Retelling It Deserves". Bustle . Archived from the original on November 16, 2022. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  6. ↑ Vlessing, Etan (April 22, 2019). "Leah Lewis, Alexxis Lemire to Star in Alice Wu's 'The Half of It' Teen Romance for Netflix". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved April 22, 2019.
  7. ↑ N'Duka, Amanda (June 11, 2019). "'The Matrix' Actor Collin Chou Joins Netflix's 'The Half of It'; 'Sabrina's Abigail Cowen Cast In 'I Still Believe'; Jim Klock Set For 'The 24th'". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  8. ↑ Bui, Hoai-Tran (May 1, 2020). "'The Half Of It' Review: There's More Than Meets The Eye With This Charming Teen LGBTQ Riff On 'Cyrano'". SlashFilm. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  9. ↑ Netflix: Behind the Streams (May 6, 2020). Alice Wu Breaks Down The Half Of It Opening Sequence | Netflix . Retrieved May 24, 2024– via YouTube.
  10. ↑ officialSBIFF (May 2, 2020). SBIFF Cinema Society - The Half Of It Q&A with Alice Wu. Event occurs at 9:20-10:31. Retrieved May 25, 2024– via YouTube. There's actually a lot of twinning. [...] and there's a lot of halves in this movie. [...] I'm trying to create a sense of this whole notion of looking for your other half [...]
  11. ↑ "The Half of it". Production List. April 8, 2019. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
  12. ↑ Evans, Greg (April 22, 2019). "Netflix Launches Production On 'The Half Of It', Alice Wu's Movie Follow-Up To 'Saving Face'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
  13. ↑ Goldsmith, Jill (March 3, 2020). "Tribeca Sets Feature Lineup Of Films For 2020 Fest". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  14. 1 2 Ramos, Dino-Ray (May 1, 2020). "'The Half Of It' Director Alice Wu Talks Returning To Filmmaking, Closeted Progressives And Showing Audiences A Different Kind Of Romance". Deadline. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  15. ↑ Beresford, Tribly; Lewis, Hilary (March 12, 2020). "Tribeca Film Festival Postponed Amid Coronavirus Fears". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  16. ↑ Mallenbaum, Carly (April 22, 2020). "Netflix in May 2020: Everything new ('Hollywood,' 'Dead to Me' Season 2) and expiring". USA Today . Retrieved April 30, 2020.
  17. ↑ "The Half of It". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media. Archived from the original on January 26, 2024. Retrieved March 27, 2024. OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  18. ↑ "The Half of It". Metacritic . Fandom, Inc. Archived from the original on March 19, 2024. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  19. ↑ Menta, Anna (April 29, 2020). "'The Half of It' on Netflix Is a Love Letter to Lesbian Teen Longing". Decider . Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  20. ↑ Travers, Peter (April 29, 2020). "'The Half of It' Review: Closeted Student Plays Cyrano in Delightful YA Romcom". Rolling Stone . Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  21. ↑ Turner, Kyle (May 1, 2020). "'The Half of It' Review: Being Yourself (and That Person, Too)". The New York Times . Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  22. ↑ Lewis, Rachel Charlene (May 1, 2020). ""The Half of It" Isn't Joking When It Says It Isn't a Love Story". Bitch . Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  23. ↑ "Netflix's "The Half of It" Star Leah Lewis Explains Why Ellie Chu's Story Is Vital to the Coming-of-Age Canon"". May 1, 2020.
  24. ↑ Goodman, Stephanie (May 22, 2020). "The Best Films of 2020 (So Far), and They're All Streaming". The New York Times.
  25. ↑ "New Years Special". Spotify . December 31, 2020.
  26. ↑ Lemire, Christy (May 1, 2020). "The Half of It movie review & film summary (2020) | Roger Ebert". RogerEbert.com . Retrieved May 25, 2024. "The Half of It" drags a bit in the middle, just as the tension should be mounting as to whether the characters' true identities and motives will be exposed. There's a languid quality to some of the pacing that perhaps fits with the sleepy, Pacific Northwest setting but weakens the film from an overall narrative perspective.
  27. ↑ Welk, Brian (April 29, 2020). "Tribeca Film Festival Gives Jury Awards to 'The Half of It,' Steve Zahn Despite Cancellation". TheWrap . Archived from the original on December 3, 2023. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  28. ↑ Moreau, Jordan (April 29, 2020). "'The Half of It,' Steve Zahn, Assol Abdullina Win Awards at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival". Variety . Archived from the original on August 11, 2023. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  29. ↑ N'Duka, Amanda (April 29, 2020). "Tribeca Film Festival: Netflix's 'The Half of It', 'The Hater', 'Socks On Fire' Among Award Winners For Postponed 2020 Edition". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on April 17, 2023. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  30. ↑ Binlot, Ann (May 11, 2020). "Alice Wu Takes Tribeca Film Festival's Top Prize—A Julian Schnabel—For The Half Of It, Her Groundbreaking Coming-Of-Age Film About An Asian Lesbian". Forbes . Archived from the original on September 15, 2022. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  31. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (January 26, 2021). "Spirit Awards Nominations: 'Never Rarely Sometimes Always', 'Minari', 'Nomadland' & 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' Lead Field". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on July 27, 2023. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  32. ↑ Lewis, Hilary; Galuppo, Mia (January 26, 2021). "Film Independent Spirit Awards: 'Never Rarely Sometimes Always,' 'Minari,' 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom,' 'Nomadland' Top Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on January 18, 2024. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  33. ↑ Ramos, Dino-Ray (January 28, 2021). "GLAAD Unveils Nominees For 32nd Annual GLAAD Media Awards; Deadline's New Hollywood Podcast Honored With Special Recognition Award". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on March 12, 2024. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  34. ↑ Beresford, Trilby (January 28, 2021). "GLAAD Media Awards: 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom,' 'Happiest Season' Among Nominees". The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on September 29, 2023. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
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