Review: To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You (2020)
Back in 2018, Netflix released the film To All the Boys I Loved Before on their streaming site. The film, an adaptation of Jenny Han's novel of the same name, was a success with critics and audiences. I reviewed it here on this blog, and I too found a lot to enjoy. It was a charming teen romance supported by the strong performance of the two leads, who handled both its sweet and serious moments with sincerity. It was mostly well-written and impressively directed. Not a groundbreaking film, but a fun success.
On 12th February 2020, Netflix released a follow-up to this film, the sequel being based on the second book in Jenny Han's series, titled P.S. I Still Love You. Does the sequel meet the expectations the first one set for its audience, manage to exceed them, or reveal itself to be a let down? Let's take a look.
To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You once again follows Lara Jean Covey, with Lana Condor reprising this role. She is now officially in a relationship with Peter Kavinsky (played by again Noah Centineo) who she was fake-dating in the previous film. The pair had originally been brought together by a love letter Lara Jean had written to Peter when she was younger, that had suddenly been sent to him years later without Lara Jean's knowledge. While the young couple are in their honeymoon phase, Lara Jean is shocked when she is abruptly reunited with John Ambrose McClaren (Jordan Fisher), who had also received an old love letter from her. As Lara Jean starts spending time with John Ambrose start when they volunteer at an old people's home together, her relationship with Peter begins to show its cracks. Does her heart belong with Peter, or John Ambrose?
While I enjoyed its predecessor, To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You was a disappointment. There were just some things that didn't feel right this time around, and it lacked charm compared to the original. These faulty elements mostly concern characters, direction and pacing. Let's look at our characters first.
To start with, Josh Sanderson, one of Lara Jean's main love interests and letter receivers from the previous film is never shown or mentioned here. I wasn't particularly attached to this character, and I can see why he might not have been needed, but at the same time, it seemed odd to have him wiped out entirely, especially because he was Lara Jean's next door neighbour. I believe he should have mentioned at least once, even if it was to say something like he graduated and left Lara Jean's school to go to university. That would make sense. Instead, I'll just have to assume he's walking around, feeling lonely and wondering why he and Lara Jean don't speak anymore, despite making up at the end of the last film.
But that's a side character from the last film. Let's look at our protagonist Lara Jean. While Lana Condor continues to do a great job with the role, Lara Jean felt less likeable this time around. I think that might partly be because she's the centre of a love triangle plot and I hate those (oh don't worry, we'll get to that) but while Lara Jean of the previous film was sweet and caring, here she was insecure and indecisive. I can understand her worry around being in a relationship for the first time, and not wanting to mess it up. At the same time though, if she feels so unease in her relationship with Peter, it suggests to me that he isn't the right person for her. The way they argue in this film, and how she challenges him on several things suggests that also. I don't like that it led to her somewhat manipulating the emotions of two nice boys simply because she didn't know how she was feeling in herself. However, Lara Jean was often still a nice person,and certainly better than other teen girl characters such as Elle in The Kissing Booth, Tessa in After, and of course Bella in the Twilight Saga. Nonetheless, it was just a shame to see her character change like this.
Peter Kavinsky is again played by Noah Centineo, who is perfectly fine in the role. There is one key problem that works against the audience embracing Peter as much this time around, and that is John Ambrose MacClaren, played here by Jordan Fisher.
I say "played here" because John Ambrose actually made a brief appearance in the first film, where he was played by this dude:
This is Jordan Burtchett as John Ambrose. Burtchett allegedly didn't know he had been replaced in his role for this film until the first teaser trailer came out. There is a video of Burtchett at the premiere of the previous film, being interviewed about his role in the film. He reveals he has read all three books that this film series is based on, and he loved them. He expresses excitement about reprising his role in the sequel. However, Burtchett, a YouTube vlogger, later uploaded a video on his channel reacting to John Ambrose being recast, and explaining what had happened. He has since taken the video down, due to apparent backlash but has uploaded another where he briefly refers to being recast as "lame".
So we can assume that things didn't end very well.
Burtchett's recasting also creates some inconsistencies between the previous film and this one. For a start, Burtchett is white and Jordan Fisher who replaces him, is mixed race. If Fisher is the better actor for the part, then fine, but it makes John Ambrose's actor-swap undeniably noticeable. However, it's not how the actors look that is the main issue here.
At the end of To All the Boys I've Loved Before, in a mid credits sequence, we see Lara Jean's little sister Kitty opening the door to Burtchett's John Ambrose, holding up his letter from Lara Jean and flowers for her. Yet this is never mentioned in P.S. I Still Love You, and when John Ambrose and Lara Jean are reunited, both of them react as if they haven't seen each other in years. Additionally, Kitty never mentions it. Considering one of the writers of this film was the only writer of the past film, this feels remarkable clunky.
All past John Ambrose issues aside, here is the new John Ambrose we get, played by Jordan Fisher:
Let me tell you now, both Fisher and his character are the best parts of this film, to the point that it is a flaw with the film. Fisher is delightful as John Ambrose, an intelligent, sweet young man who can play the piano and melt your heart with his charmed, quiet geekiness. He enjoys reading, genuinely likes volunteering in the old people's home with Lara Jean, and is kind to everyone, even when he doesn't agree with everything they do. He's gorgeous physically and in essence.
This causes part of the problem with Peter. While Peter and Lara Jean are a sweet couple in the first film, here they aren't very good at communicating with each other, and it becomes clear that Peter's ex, Gen, will always be a priority in his life. This isn't very fair on Lara Jean, particularly when something supposedly romantic that happened to her in the last film is revealed to have had a different motive originally. This ruins the moment for Lara Jean, and also cheapens a part of the first film for the audience as a consequence.
Lara Jean and John Ambrose have lots in common, while she and Peter share very little. Additionally, Lara Jean admits that John Ambrose is the one she feels most comfortable around. Yet this trilogy clearly has the mindset of Peter and Lara Jean being the main couple in the end, no matter what. It just seems such a shame to introduce a great love interest, only to use him as a plot device to prove the strength of the love Lara Jean has for Peter.
I have since learned that readers of the books struggled with the same problem. John Ambrose is simply the better love interest. I believe he is supposed to be absent from the third and final film, so his presence overall seems a bit pointless and has lessened the value of the couple this series really wants us to support.
Regarding the problems that came with the recasting of John Ambrose, I can only assume that this was director Michael Fimognari's choice. He's a first time director, who is also directing the third and final movie in this series, which was filmed back-to-back with this film. The director of the first film was Susan Johnson, who after watching this film, I appreciated even more than before. Johnson brought a light, quirky style to her production that managed to feel authentic and suitable to the characters.
In comparison, Fimognari's direction often feels like it is trying to mimic that of Johnson's in the first film, but unfortunately it just feels a bit unnatural. Yet when Fimognari tries to give his own unique directional takes, they stand out in a negative way. For example, we see Lara Jean feeling a bit sad and sorry for herself in what starts out as your typical lonely montage sequence, i.e. walking around and feeling a bit depressed. The final shot of this sequence shows Lara Jean, seemingly floating down the school hall with her head bowed as other students continue with their lives around her. This shot would have worked well, if only Lara Jean hadn't then started lip-syncing with the break-up song playing over this montage. It's then revealed to be a fantasy sequence, but it does not match any other filming style we've seen in this series so far and sticks out like a sore thumb.
Additionally, I am presenting two screenshots below, of two different kiss scenes Lara Jean has.
The first kiss shot presented here is of Lara Jean and John Ambrose.
This second shot is of Lara Jean and Peter.
Now tell me, which kiss scene looks more magical to you? Which style of shot suggests the romance we should be fangirling over? The top one with John Ambrose, where they're centrally framed, it's snowing and the golden lighting from inside the house behind them brings a lovely warmth to this otherwise cool colour palette? Or is it the second one with Peter, shot in the dark, with a random house and some dead trees behind them?
The fact is, this film wants you to support Lara Jean with Peter, but with cinematography like this, they aren't making it easy. Yes, they may be floating up into the air as they snog here, and that's a nice idea, but that one feature does not instantly make it a good shot. I can't tell whether they used a dark filter, or just made a poor choice when it came to what time of the day they shot this in, but this scene is too dark. It should have been against a sunset, or in a darker time of night that could have worked well with good lighting to focus on the main couple.
Additionally, there is barely any time between these two kiss scenes. What that may suggest about Lara Jean aside, I find myself laughing at how in the first kiss scene it's snowing, but in Peter's, the background is very undeniably green. It's a continuity error that suggests the director is inexperienced, and though he may have had good visions for his project in mind, he unfortunately does not have the required skill or support to properly carry them out yet. As I said before, this film and the next film in the series were shot back to back, so I await the directorial quality in the next film with caution.
Ultimately, I chose to write a review of To All the Boys I've Loved Before because it was a cute romance film that I thought others would enjoy. As for this review, I had a really hard time writing it because I wasn't interested, and only felt obligated to do so because I had already reviewed the first one in the series. What else can I say?
THE SCOREBOARD
1, 4, 5, 7 (+1), 13, 14, 15 (+1), 20, 21, 28, 29, 42, 51, 52, 53, 54, 57, 59, 61, 62, 69, 73
Total: 24
Is this really a chick flick or will men like it too? Teen chick flick
Would I recommend this film? Frustratingly, no. Despite Kitty's catch-up scene, I think new viewers would have to see the previous film first, and the open ending of the previous film was more satisfying than the rushed conclusion of this one.
Quote of the film: "I'm perfectly happy in my relationship with Peter. It's just, like, the stuff I was telling you about, like the overthinking? That doesn't happen when I'm with John Ambrose." - Lara Jean
Film rating: 4.5/10
