The Sun Is Also A Star, Nicola Yoon’s second YA novel to become a teen romance movie, follows a similar storyline in a different setting. Two teenagers, brought together by fate but kept apart by circumstances beyond their control, try to snatch moments together throughout a day, whilst also dealing with, you know, life.
Whilst both talented actors in their own right, Yara Shahidi and Charles Melton have little chemistry on screen – which could largely be blamed on the script. By any means, it’s not a pairing likely to work outside of the YA world. Natasha (Shahidi) believes in science and facts, whilst Daniel (Melton) believes in romance and fate. Natasha is spending her last day in America when she meets Daniel, facing deportation with her parents back to Jamaica the next day.
She spends the time chasing the possibility of staying in America, least not now she has a dashing suitor in tow. Daniel, who also has an important day ahead in the form of a medical interview for Dartmouth College, pushed on by his South Korean parents – all Daniel really wants to do is write poetry.
In fact, what draws them together is Daniel scribbling ‘Deus Ex Machina’ into his notebook and then seeing Natasha’s jacket, which has the same phrase scrawled on the back. Ever the believer in fate, he follows her out of Grand Central Station and ends up saving her from a speeding car, at which point she agrees that he has the day to persuade her that love is real.
The movie is aggressively location-based, with cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw relying on New York as the cliché romantic city backdrop that it is. We follow Natasha and Daniel across the city from the subway, to Chinatown, to the Museum of Natural History. By all means, they cram a lot into a day, especially considering both of them have other pressing matters on their hands. The movie ends up leaning on the cinematography and setting at the expense of the storyline which, at its core, is just about two teenagers who want a break from growing up.
The screenplay by Tracy Oliver (Girls Trip) doesn’t help the actors. Natasha talks a tough game about love, then suddenly we see her fantasy of a future with Daniel: They kiss, they get married, they have a family. Where did that come from?
Arkapaw makes it all look stunning, with vibrant colours and graceful camera movements, but the scenes are pretty to no purpose. And the characters don’t pay much attention to their surroundings. The effect is to make the film seem busy to compensate for the underwhelming story, which never takes off.
Russo-Young’s approach is to use a lot of close-ups, sometimes of her actors and sometimes of strangers, and of course, of the Statue of Liberty. Even by YA standards, The Sun Is Also A Star is too cliché for its own good.
The Sun Is Also A Star is out now.