“The Sun is Also a Star” proves to be a work of cheesy romance movie excellency, despite laughable mistakes

By: Karli Wallace

Executive Theme Editor

Though it wasn’t exactly what fans of Nicola Yoon’s original novel expected it to be, the film adaptation of “The Sun is Also a Star” shines bright with sincerity.

“The Sun is Also a Star” serves as a sincerely romantic stereotype for a new genre of diverse young adult movies, despite its overly cheesy dialogue and lack of key plot points and characters that originate from Yoon’s novel. The movie also discusses the socio-political topic of immigrant diversity in America and utilizes perfect casting, but fails to replicate the original thoughtfulness presented by Yoon.

“The Sun is Also a Star” is a novel written by young-adult author Nicola Yoon and was published in November of 2016. Yoon has also written other romantic young-adult novels like “Everything, Everything,” which was also adapted for cinematic production in May of 2017. “The Sun is Also a Star” was also a National Book Award finalist in 2017, a 2017 Michael L. Printz Honor Book, a New York Times Notable Book of 2016 and a Coretta Scott King New Talent Award winner.

The film adaptation of the novel, which is loosely based on how Yoon met her husband, centers around the relationship of two teenage strangers — Natasha (Yara Shahidi) and Daniel (Charles Melton) — who fall in love within a single day among the traditionally rose-colored lense of New York City. Directed by Ry Russo-Young, the movie seems to contrast the pragmatic and sentimentalist personalities of Natasha and Daniel. It also emphasizes how the cliches of love being “meant to be” and “fate” may indeed be logistically realistic; similar to how the sun is also a star.

Russo-Young’s adaptation of Yoon’s novel successfully checks the boxes for a blossoming new genre of novel-adapted films. Rather than dystopian young adult movies being constantly adapted for film, the culturally modern teen romance movie has instead taken over the teenage movie market. And this is exactly where “The Sun is Also a Star” stands. Between its racially diverse cast, artistic cinematography and unrealistic, hopelessly romantic plot, the movie’s “star-crossed lovers” energy and use of Tommy James and The Shondells’ song, “Crimson and Clover” create a prototype for the new genre. Similar to its contemporaries, the film’s naturally cheesy nature makes it an inherent cliche, but simultaneously, a movie that’s easy to enjoy. Even if it’s regarded as a cliche, it’s one that will serve as a bookmark in the genre of romance movies for a new, culturally aware generation of adolescents.

Though notably award-worthy, the awkwardly extravagant dialogue of Russo-Young’s film causes moments of moderate cringe. Unfortunately, this turns the movie’s originality of the

“idealism versus realism” relationship of Daniel and Natasha into a connection that makes Melton and Shahidi’s protagonists seem nothing more than token characters for immigrant diversity. Though Russo-Young’s intent is for the movie to not focus on the underlying socio-politics of immigration, the occasionally over-the-top writing does an injustice to a work of otherwise cheesy romantic excellence.

Additionally, the absence of key plot points from Yoon’s original novel takes a toll on the overall structure of the film’s story, as the addition of these moments would have cohesively made the movie better. Though it is well known that adapting a book to the movie screen is a challenge, the lack of these significant plot points and characters is the reason that certain moments in “The Sun is Also a Star” become laughable instead of heartfelt and deeply emotional. If said moments were included, the movie would be more consistent with the book, adding a greater sense of closure for the film’s end. Although the attention to recurring details in the “The Sun is Also a Star” is good, the inclusion of pivotal moments from the book would have made it better.

Though “The Sun is Also a Star” proves itself to be a defining work for a more inclusive, diverse take on young-adult romance movies, its occasionally cringe-worthy dialogue and lack of pivotal moments from Yoon’s original novel detract from its hopelessly romantic outlook on life.

“The Sun is Also a Star” was released on May 17 and is showing in theaters nationwide.