Based off of Jenny Han’s best-selling novel, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before is not your typical rom-com. Sure, it has all the qualities of a good romance film that would make John Hughes proud, but it also offers so much more. It’s a story about love, sisterhood, and growing up that also happens to feature an Asian American character as the protagonist.
Having read the book beforehand, I had a lot of expectations from the movie, all of which were fulfilled the minute the first scene appeared on screen. As with all book-to-movie adaptations, the movie had some slight changes that, while different, didn’t really affect the plot that much, save for one: the reason why Lara Jean’s letters were sent out. Since the central element of the book and the movie are Lara Jean’s letters, changing the reason they were sent out made the dynamic of the plot better and more meaningful and made a certain character much more grounded (those who read the book would understand). I also like how the actors were able to emulate their characters well, especially Lana Condor and Noah Centineo, who play Lara Jean and Peter Kavinsky, respectively. They really captured the essence of their characters, with Lana channeling Lara Jean’s naiveté and Noah Peter’s confidence very well, which was made all the more better because of their off-the-charts chemistry. I couldn’t have imagined a better Lara Jean and Peter K. Meanwhile, Anna Cathcart was definitely the scene stealer of the movie. Her portrayal of Kitty, Lara Jean’s younger sister, was so spot on that it made me wonder if she wasn’t the character herself. The cast in general did a phenomenal job with their characters that really made the movie very engaging.
Overall, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before is probably one of the best book-to-movie adaptations I’ve watched so far. It’s definitely different from the other teen rom-coms out there, with its realistic portrayal of high school and teen life. It also had a lot of relatable moments and humor that made me laugh while watching. The movie was really enjoyable and truly did the book justice, and I really hope that any future sequels will do the same!