The Sun Is Also a Star

Based on a book by Nicola Yoon, The Sun Is Also a Star follows Charles Melton’s Daniel as he happens to spot Yara Shahidi’s Natasha and sets out to prove that he can make her fall in love with him in just an afternoon – with complications ensuing from the fact that Natasha and her family are set to be deported the next day. Filmmaker Ry Russo-Young, working from Tracy Oliver’s screenplay, does an effective job of initially establishing the protagonists and their respective problems, which ensures that both Daniel and Natasha have certainly become three-dimensional, sympathetic figures by the time they meet-cute. And although the continuing emphasis on coincidences and fate remains rather silly from start to finish, The Sun Is Also a Star benefits substantially from the almost absurdly charismatic work of its stars and the palpable chemistry between their respective characters (ie the film, when all is said and done, is at its best when focused on Natasha and Daniel’s easygoing, Before Sunrise-like conversations). And although the tacked-on post-script feels rather needless and anticlimactic (especially given that the story ends perfectly before that point), The Sun Is Also a Star nevertheless comes off as an above-average romance that boasts a pair of star-making performances in Melton and Shahidi.

*** out of ****