The Half of It

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“The Half of it” is another casualty of the Corona-era. It would have had a wide, in-theater release, but has now been released on Netflix. It’s hard to know how well it would have done in theaters, but this does seem like the sort of “indie” film that becomes a runaway success. It is indie, but only to the degree that we don’t know any of the actors/director. It follows a very normal story arc and pace; it does not challenge the audience in any meaningful way. That said, though, it’s pretty good fluff. Ellie is the smarter-than-everyone-else kid stuck in a small town. She makes an unlikely friend, falls in love, and grows a little wiser. This is hardly rocket science. The coming-of-age story is one of the oldest genres, and even the gay coming-of-age story has been the focus of dozens of films. Most of the acting is fairly awkward, but Leah Lewis (who has only done bit parts on tv before now) does give a strong and charming performance as Ellie. The most interesting part of the film for me was her relationship with her father. That was lovely and sweet, and I wish the film had spent more time there. Writer and director Alice Wu (her only other film is “Saving Face”) does sometimes lean too heavily on stereotypes: the smartest kid is the Asian girl, her friend is the dumb but sweet jock, the antagonist (if there even is one) is the dumb and self-involved jock, etc. Perhaps, the most interested thing for me in the film was it’s winking self-awareness of the tropes it was ripping off. How do you make an original love story/coming-of-age-story? By acknowledging how much you are borrowing from elsewhere. The film itself is basically a modern “Cyrano de Bergerac.” Wu knows this and both points it out explicitly and has fun with it. At one point Ellie and Paul (sweet jock) are watching an old film (clips of them feature heavily throughout) . They watch a man running alongside the train, calling out to the woman through the window. Ellie calls it “kinda trite,” tacitly acknowledging the triteness in much of this film. In another scene, she is accused of ripping off Wim Wenders (a famous indie director) in a letter she writes. The entire film acknowledges these sorts of ripoffs, even while engaging in them. The film starts with an overt reference to “Hedwig and the Angry Inch.” It’s from that reference that the film gets its title; and then it gleefully upends that message in the final scenes. There are also clear references to “The Graduate” (in the wedding scene) and “The Usual Suspects” (a teacher gives a bastardized quotation of “the only one I fear is Keyser Soze”). The film can definitely be a bit too cutesy and contrived at times, but that’s the genre. So, if you’re not up for that, I’d definitely go elsewhere. But, if you do want something light, fun, and easy to watch, this might just be the perfect choice.