Shortcomings

First-time director Randall Park (Fresh off the Boat; Always Be My Maybe) takes on social mores with this fresh and fun misanthropic comedy.

Ben, a struggling Japanese American filmmaker, is frustrated that a movie like Crazy Rich Asians has ‘solved’ Hollywood’s representation problems. He’s also a crank whose superiority of personal taste doesn’t endear him to his friends. After he and girlfriend Miko break up, Ben flounders: the cinema he manages fails, his screenplays go unwritten and his new bisexual boo delivers harsh truths about race, sex and growing up. What’s a grump to do when he should be old enough to know how the world works?

Adapted by Adrian Tomine from his own 2007 graphic novel, Park’s assured directorial debut has a modern queer energy and a laser-focused skewering of the art and festival worlds that will make audiences squirm with relatability when they’re not guffawing. Starring Justin H. Min (After Yang; The Umbrella Academy), comedian Sherry Cola, Disney star Debby Ryan and Everything Everywhere All at Once’s Stephanie Hsu in a hilarious cameo, Shortcomings finds humour and heart in the bad choices and missed turns of flawed people flailing through adulthood.

“Park’s debut comedy leans on its cast and a smart screenplay to offer up a social commentary both bitter enough to make a point and agreeable enough to make people laugh.” – The Film Stage