Remember the #StarringJohnCho meme not too long ago? I was all about that. Not only because I am a fan of John Cho, I am also all about equal representation in film. And there were a lot of good Photoshop skillz shown off during that thread. So I was very much excited to see a film with Cho as the leading man, especially since it was getting rather rave reviews.
Cho finds himself stranded in Columbus, Indianna when his famous architect father suddenly falls ill. While aimlessly wandering this town known as a mecca for architecture, he meets a young woman (Haley Lu Richardson) who has resigned herself to living in this small town to care for her mother, rather than going off to the bigger and better that she’s capable of.
I didn’t get it, the hype I mean. To me it felt like any other character driven indie. I get that there was a beauty to how it was filmed and the use of architecture in the film was something that made it unique. What I couldn’t get past (and I said as much on Stardust) was that the characters were both too dissatisfied and disillusioned. It’s very hard to get interested in somebody who isn’t interested in themselves. #thestruggleisreal
I felt like Cho didn’t have too much to work with, other than standing there brooding. He did well with what he did have, and again, happy to see him lead a film, but he deserves more. Richardson didn’t annoy me for once. I mostly mean that as a compliment here. Her other roles have just bugged me, but this one proved that she’s capable of more (possibly when she has better written characters). I’m sure she’ll get another chance to shine in a later film.
Columbus – \m/ \m/