If you looked up the word insufferable in the dictionary, it would probably have a picture of Shortcomings’ main character, Ben (Justin H. Min), alongside the definition. If there were a mountain of contrarianism, he would be king. Randall Park’s directorial debut opened at what would be looked at as a moment of triumph. Thankfully, there has been growth in how Asian representation has been shown throughout cinema in recent years with films like Crazy Rich Asians and Joyride. The fictional movie played in the opening minutes of Shortcomings is born out of the same ilk. An Asian couple (played by Stephanie Hsu and Ronny Chieng) push through prejudice with their penthouse apartment application through raucous applause from the crowd.
While Ben’s girlfriend and festival organizer Miko (Ally Maki) is happy with the result, he can’t help but rain on her parade – mostly because he can’t see outside his jaded presence. Park and writer Adrian Tomine (who also wrote the book of the same title) use Shortcomings to look into the modes of representation we’ve seen. Through some characterization and constant questioning brought up by Ben’s character, they ask if clean-cut scenarios should be the only stories that get told. Shortcomings look to go in the opposite direction – specifically, Ben cannot get out of his own way – living in knots of conundrums.
As a film school dropout, Ben manages a barely hanging-on arthouse theater. He often meets up with his best friend Alice (Sherry Cola), who tries to talk some sense into him. Alice exists within her plight – she’s a queer woman who has to deal with the expectations of a Korean-American family. She still manages to finagle finding the bright sides to things even as Ben can’t – he meets every scenario with skepticism and snark. It’s no wonder things are rocky with him and Miko. He disregards every accomplishment she does and, on the side, has a thing for American white women. Still, even Ben himself has a complex relationship with that nature. The elephant in the room prompts Miko to take an internship in New York, with the last threads of their relationship hanging in the wind.
Typically, these films would lead the main character to have some epiphany and see the error in their ways – not with Shortcomings. If anything, Ben doubles down on his shortsighted nature of a man who will look down upon you if you can’t name five films from the Criterion Channel. While Miko is away, Ben takes it upon himself to date avant-garde performance artist Autumn (Tavi Gevinson) and grad student on the rebound Sasha (Debby Ryan). It’s unclear if Ben is looking for pure happiness or if he’s using these potential relationships as a further excavation of his persistent platitudes. There are rarely any conclusions because Ben’s line of questioning has no end.
The eureka moment hits Ben concerning Miko, her unreturned calls, and venturing to New York to see her with a white photographer (Timothy Simons). It’s where his “observations” kick into overdrive, but perhaps a slight sense of self-awareness that he placed himself in this hole. If anything could have been fleshed out more, it would be Miko’s character. For a good amount of time, we are either with Ben and Alice – it’s undeniable Min and Cola have great chemistry of two friends looking for an anchor in their respective lives. Miko gets her moment towards the film’s end, resulting from Ben’s pseudo sleuthing of her whereabouts.
While Shortcomings has a rather abrupt conclusion within its one-and-a-half-hour runtime, it’s truthful regarding how this type of experience plays out. Ben’s not going to get the girl – in fact, he’s going to end up all alone until he actively chooses to be the big part of the reformation that his life needs. This world is colored through the eyes and ears of Ben’s insatiable need to drag people down to where he is (or stand above them). When Alice finds a romantic prospect in New York, Ben makes it a point to say unflattering things about the interracial relationship. You will enjoy all the ways Ben loses, but perhaps wonder if he understands why it keeps happening that way.