Full disclosure: when The Half of It first showed up on my Netflix feed, it didn’t sound like a movie I’d watch. Based on its description alone, I relegated this movie to something my wife would put on. Yes, I’d most likely watch it with her. I’d probably enjoy it too. But it isn’t something that I would put on unless I had to. Which is what I had to do. (You know, for this review.)
Boy did I enjoy it. The Half Of It tells the story of Ellie Chu, a high school student who makes extra cash by writing essays for her fellow schoolmates. She is approached by Paul Munsky, a school mate who asks her to help him write letters to his love interest, Aster Flores, because, as you will see fairly early on, Paul is not great with words.
The ruse works for awhile, until Paul insists on taking it to the next level and texts emojis to Aster. Ellie then has to take over the situation. This then leads to a wonderful three-way texting sequence between Aster and Ellie, who is pretending to be Paul; between Ellie and Paul, who has no idea what Ellie is saying to Aster on his behalf, all while he is sitting across the table from Aster, at a diner, on a date. It is inventive, funny, and sweet all at the same time.
The three main characters are perfectly cast; Leah Lewis plays Ellie Chu and Alexxis Lemire is Aster Flores. Daniel Diemer is especially great as Paul Munsky. Now, Paul isn’t the smartest tool in the Munsky shed, but Diemer plays him as a sweet, innocent dunce, without ever coming across being stupid. Diemer rides that line so well that I never found Paul to be an annoying caricature of someone who is inept.
This is not a new story. The secret-letter-written-by-someone-else trope is tried and true, and can be very obvious. Boy gets ghostwriting help to get a girl. Girl goes out with boy. Eventually girl falls in love with ghostwriter. We’ve seen it in every Cyrano inspired movie from Roxanne to Whatever It Takes. But The Half of It does it a little bit differently. Love does ensue, but not in the way we’d think. There is, of course, also the plot twist where the boy falls in love with ghostwriter, but again, not in way you’d expect.
The Half of It is a sweet story of love in the 21st century. I’m not saying there weren’t any same sex love stories in the past, but this spin on the trope is treated with respect and dignity. The Half of It also does a great job in not falling for the lazy story beats. Paul isn’t the handsome high school jock. Aster isn’t the cheerleader. Ellie isn’t the weird Chinese kid in school. Aster’s current boyfriend isn’t a jerk, the parents aren’t the villains, the kids aren’t all talking about sex. Because in this story, in this town of Squahamish, love is pure. Love is sweet. Love is love.
At the end of The Half of It, the three main protagonists, Ellie, Paul, and Aster, do fall in love. But not in the way your typical teen movie would usually treat falling in love. The movie doesn’t treat high school romance like it’s a matter of life or death. The movie doesn’t treat the characters as star crossed lovers who would simply die if they can’t be together.
The Half of It is a refreshing reboot of a classic trope. This isn’t the heartbreak romance of the 1980s, or the wild sex romps of the 1990s, or the sappy tear jerkers of the 2000s. This is a new kind of love story and I for one am all for it.
The Half of It
Netflix
104 minutes
Director: Alice Wu
Writer: Alice Wu
Cast: Leah Lewis, Alexxis Lemire, and Daniel Diemer
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