TO ALL THE BOYS I'VE LOVED BEFORE

My good friend Hubert Selby Jr. used to remind me that you can't have up without down, or right without left, or pleasure without pain, or success without failure, or what we think of as "bad" without what we think of as "good." I'm thinking of that because despite the onslaught of "bad" news, "good" things keep happening as well.

And for me, one of them is this movie: TO ALL THE BOYS I'VE LOVED BEFORE. Not because it's an epic original work of art, but because it's a small but significant step toward tolerance and inclusion and acceptance and fairness and more, by taking a genre plot—the high school romantic comedy with all its familiar tropes—and adding one unique element: an Asian-American playing the lead.

The most exceptional thing about that is it isn't in any way a part of the plot (there's only one fleeting reference to racism and not aimed at her). It's just a given, accepted as such with no fanfare or extra attention. Lana Condor as the lead character—a high school girl in love with love but afraid of the real thing—owns this film with her acting and her quiet charisma (talk about a star is born).

But all the acting is great (especially Anna Cathcart as the little sister and John Corbett as the dad, who is always a delight to see on screen, and Noah Centineo as a possible beau). As is the direction, editing, cinematography, and soundtrack. It's a gem of a genre flick, worth watching.