As I mentioned to my wife, our cinephile friend would never watch something like this, but I’m a soft touch for the occasional teenage romance or coming-of-age story. In addition, I like to think of this, together with Crazy Rich Asians and Andrew Yang’s campaign to be the Democratic nominee for the US presidential race, as part of the welcome phenomenon of Asian Americans coming out and becoming more visible amidst the broader American culture.

Lara Jean Covey is one of three sisters who are raised by their father following the death of their mother some years back. Partly due to the, she has never dated but does fantasize about romance by writing love letters to her crushes which she never sends out. One of these crushes is Josh, their neighbor and the boyfriend of the eldest sister Margot. After Margot leaves for college, breaking up with Josh before going, the youngest sister Kitty decides that it’s time for Lara Jean to have a more active social life and mails out those love letters. One of these is Peter, a jock at school who has been the boyfriend of Lara Jean’s rival at school, Gen, for a while now. Josh is another who is confused and the last one is Lucas who tells her that he is gay. She wants to avoid an awkward confrontation with Josh and so agrees to fake a relationship with Peter, who in turn wants to make Gen jealous.

This is a teen romance film that stays well within the confines of its genre, but I do appreciate how modern and hip it is. The film casually demonstrates diversity without needing to be preachy about it. There is no need to go out of its way to point out that the Coveys are a mixed race family or specifically highlight their Korean heritage except when it naturally comes up, like when Lara Jean bribes Lucas with a Korean face mask. The film even deliberately lampshades the contrast with the teen movies of the past by referencing John Hughes’ Sixteen Candles. The script is solid with surprisingly good character development and sympathetically portrays the teens as not being completely sex-crazed which is another break from the teen comedies of the 1990s. It realistically shows that the girls have to be a little more careful than boys about protecting their reputation and I do love how Margot acts as a mother figure to help Lara Jean out with a problem.

I am amused by the incredible wealth on casual display here. All of the teens seemingly drive huge SUVs or trucks. The school organizes ski trips that have them staying overnight in a very nicely appointed resort. It’s honestly a bit insane. There’s also the sense that while Lara Jean’s predicament is horrifyingly embarrassing, hers are basically rich people problems. Still it’s nice once in a while to watch a grounded film about mostly well adjusted people and there’s a surprisingly wholesome feeling about this that nevertheless never feels fake or pedantic. This film did well enough that there are going to be sequels so that is heartening. However one of these is enough for me and unless those get terrifically good reviews I’m unlikely to be back for them.