(MOVIE) To All The Boys: P.S – I Still Love You

REVIEW

(3/10)

I didn’t read the books written by Jenny Han, so I have neither a term of comparison nor the absolute idea of how similar they are to the Netflix movies.

I can’t tell you if the producers went off track if they overdid this or forgot that, but I can tell you the second movie is nothing like the first… WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST WATCH?

I think the only two good things about this movie were Centineo (he’s a demi-god for sure) and the cinematography (Michael Fimognari did yet again an amazing job, coherent with the first movie). Everything else (and I truly mean everything) lacked consistency and depth.

It seemed like everything served as a justification for Lara Jean’s actions. It’s obvious that from the moment she receives his letter that she wants to see where things with Ambrose can lead, so of course, she starts vilifying Peter. He’s not being a bad boyfriend, but everyone wants us to believe he is, so the main character’s dishonesty is justifiable.

They tried to make Peter the bad guy, but Lara Jean was the one in the wrong throughout one and a half-hour of the movie. She acted unlike herself the whole time and she only realized that 12 minutes before the end. This was incredibly frustrating because we only get to watch a total of 20 minutes of Lara and Peter’s relationship. I was hoping this movie would make me laugh and put me in a romantic mood, not frustrate me.

Instead of focusing on other interesting plots (Trevor and Chris, Margot and her time in Scotland, Dr Covey and Trina’s romance) we only got to see the weird dynamic between Lara, Peter and Ambrose. The characters were underdeveloped, as flat as iron and as deep as a puddle. The movie dragged on and it felt like I was watching it for ages. Its purpose (showing more of Laura Jean and Peter’s romance) was a failure, the plot was poor and the dialogues felt meaningless. Peter said, “for a girl who never had a boyfriend you sure know how to mess with a guy” and that sums up exactly what I felt during this film: messed up with.

I still don’t understand what was the point of this second instalment. This movie could’ve tackled many problems of a young adult’s love life and instead, the writers decided to Twilight it. Many couples face the problem of not being a first for their partner and yet the producers decided to breeze through it (the sex conversation was super awkward). The fact that neither Lara or Peter were talking about their issues with each other could’ve been also a teaching moment but no, let’s show teenagers that pretending everything is okay and then breaking up on a whim is exactly how things are supposed to be done.

Friendship also went to hell because none of Lara’s friends was anywhere to be seen and let’s just say that the “make peace” scene was a bit too bland.

There’s also the question of ‘how well do teenagers accept their parents' new relationships’ that could’ve been worked more in-depth, instead of making Kitty and Lara accept it so easily — such things rarely work out like that.

Sure, the first movie was also cliché and too naïve, but at least it was cute and romantic (even though it also had a few problems). This one was just a big ball of chewed gum.

Lastly, if it’s still not obvious, I’m team Kavinsky. My friend said “Peter is the guy you date in high school, John is the man you marry” and I couldn’t disagree more. Peter is still the guy I would marry because Ambrose’s whole point of existence was to disturb Lara Jean and Kavinsky’s relationship and I was not a fan of that. I JUST WANTED TO SEE MY BABIES MAKING BABIES!

Joking, I just wanted to gush over Peter.

P.S - Can I just ask where the hell is Josh, Margot's ex? He was their neighbour and then suddenly he's gone. Weird.