So far, “Always Be My Maybe” is the best rom-com of the year.
In the Netflix film, which came out last month, a couple of childhood sweethearts reunite as Sasha, a celebrity chef, returns home to find Marcus, a struggling musician who never left.
The film is keenly aware of its moment, making nods to a mother raising a genderless baby and millennials enmeshed in Instagram foodie culture. But it’s not so caught up in its San Francisco climate that it becomes moralizing.
In fact, it feels much more 1990s than 2019. Notably, it reintroduced Keanu Reeves as the internet’s boyfriend. Taking its name from Mariah Carey’s mid-1990s hit “Always Be My Baby,” the film reimagines “When Harry Met Sally” for a more politically correct generation without pandering to social justice warriors.
Like last year’s “Crazy Rich Asians,” it brings Asian Americans on screen in a meaningful way. And unlike “Long Shot,” its schlubby male lead is endearing.
One of the most interesting scenes from the film, though, has nothing to do with romance at all. It’s a swipe at “woke” liberals, which even the film’s creators know often go too far.
When a lead character’s best friend says she’s having a baby with her female partner, an overzealous listener chimes in: “Cool. Actually, I’m a LGBTQIA ally. So thank you, uh, for your service.”
The bewildered pregnant woman stares back blankly.
“Always Be My Maybe” is a rare film that can check positive, progressive boxes — the female lead is a high-powered success who doesn’t have to sacrifice her career, it shines a spotlight on minority characters without caricature, etc. — but it also recognizes that no one wants to be preached at.
It’s almost as if the awkward “ally” moment is the movie reminding viewers that it’s not trying to be progressive just to be progressive. It isn’t “woke” like “Long Shot” or “Isn’t It Romantic,” two rom-coms from 2019 that fell flat. It’s just trying to tell a good story.
The rom-com may be pretty much dead, but “Always Be My Maybe” is just the type of subtly charming film to bring it back.
