To all the boys I've loved before: Your Netflix must watch!
*Definitely contains spoilers*
GAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! Is it bad that I've already watched the film TWICE in the course of 12 hours???? And the sad thing is, I probably won't stop at two watches. It feeds my need of innocence and cliches and romance and male protagonists that you can simply fall in love with.
The book trilogy was written by the talented Jenny Han. Fun fact: she makes a cameo in the film! If you've read the books, the film takes the key elements in the plot line of book 1, maybe some elements of book 2 and nothing from book 3, which is fueling my hope for a second installment to the film. With the way it ended on a cliffhanger, I can only assume there's going to be a second part. ALSO, the cast are hinting at a sequel so maybe as I was writing that paragraph I WAS PREDICTING THE FUTURE????
Quick synopsis:
To give a little insight into Lara Jean and the plot line, when she has a crush that is so intense, she writes it all down in a love letter addressed to that person. There are five letters in total:
- Kenny from camp - his letter doesn't get delivered to him though
- Josh Sanderson who is her sisters boyfriend [played by Isaac Broussard, drool],
- John Ambrose from Model UN [he's the cliffhanger],
- Lucas James from homecoming [played by Trezzo Mahoro]
- Peter Kavinsky [played by Noah Centineo] who is dating her ex best friend Genevieve and later becomes her fake [real] boyfriend
To sum up in a few words, her older sister Margot [played by Janel Parrish] breaks up with Josh and goes to Scotland for University and her younger sister Kitty [played by Anna Cathcart] decides to post the letters to the recipients. From that simple decision comes a whole new world for Lara Jean in the shape of fake relationships, new friends and boy/girl partaaays. Sounds pretty simple right? Hint the sarcasm. Well, prepare for another twist! To avoid confrontation about the letter from Josh [and for Peter to make Gen jealous] they decide to 'fake date' which later blossoms into an unlikely bond. That's all I can say because I literally given the whole plot line away. Whoooooooooops.
My thoughts:
There's a little of Lara Jean Covey in all of us whether it's the hopeless romantic that longs for a love story like the ones you read in a book. Or whether it's having the fear of losing someone that means a lot to you. Or whether it's simply having a close bond with your siblings, she resides in us all . I think that's probably one of the reasons why I clicked with the lead character in the first place. And I would just like to say, Lana Condor did a fab job portraying Lara Jean and I will forever be indebted to her for bringing this character alive.
The shear innocence of the film is what truly captures the heart of viewers. There's no over exaggeration on hormonal teenagers, no need for the constant PDA. It's simply a film about a girl who has a crush.
While the whole story line is every shade of adorable possible, I absolutely love the fact that they stayed true to the lead characters cultural background. Coming from Asian descent myself, I absolutely love seeing more and more diversity in films and I salute Netflix for bringing in the motion. You've done me proud!
I'm going to have to leave this post on a quick warning IF you haven't watched it yet. YOU WILL FALL IN LOVE WITH PETER KAVINSKY. This is not up for debating, it will happen. Noah Centineo is an absolute god and he fits the role of Peter so well. At an extension, YOU WILL ALSO FALL IN LOVE WITH NOAH CENTINEO. I'm not talking from personal experience [I am talking from personal experience]. You know what, you're going to fall in love with the whole cast. That's all I can say because it is 100% true. You're going to finish the film and sit there thinking "Where the fuck is the rest of this film?" Because 1 1/2 hours is simply not long enough to truly appreciate the relationship Lara Jean and Peter have.
Stay lovely. x
A/N: I have officially watched the film four times and I don't plan on stopping.
