A wonderful little movie. A modern remake of Cyrano de Bergerac, where tragedy and loss are transformed into possibility.
Leah Lewis as Ellie Chu absolutely dominates the film, though that is not to say the cast of characters do not all give excellent performances.
And by “little” I do not mean insignificant. The Half of It is unpretentious. While it plays off one of the great tragic plays of the 20th Century, it never gets pompous or affected. We see a world with ordinary people in it, each reaching as best they can for solace, for something better, even for love.
But Sartre cuts through their hopes and dreams like a flamethrower through butter. In the end, no one gets their desires. There are no happy endings here. But that is because nothing ever ends: each of the characters moves forward in their lives, each touched by Ellie, but each of them, perhaps Ellie most powerfully, seeing the future as that undiscovered country bubbling with possibility.
Leah Lewis for an Oscar.
Ellie Chu my crush forever.
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