Uneven adaptation of Nicola Yoon’s best-selling novel for young adults chronicles a day in the lives of a pragmatic would-be astronomer (Yara Shahidi) struggling to keep her Jamaican family from being deported from New York and a Korean-American true believer in romance (Charles Melton) whose parents are forcing him to become a doctor rather than the poet he aspires to be. After their paths cross at Grand Central Terminal, he insists that they were destined to be together, but she has her doubts. So long as director Ry Russo-Young keeps the focus on the central pair, the quirky chutzpah of Melton’s character, out to win over his lady love, is sufficiently appealing to maintain viewer interest. The pretentious pronouncements about life, the universe and everything that lard Tracy Oliver’s script, by contrast, will likely try moviegoers’ patience. Possibly acceptable for mature teens.
Watch out for: Scenes of sensuality, a couple of mild oaths, at least one rough term, several crude and crass expressions.
Rated: A-III, adults; MPAA: PG-13
