The Sun Is Also a Star (2019) * *

Directed by:  Ry Russo-Young

Starring:  Yara Shahidi, Charles Melton, John Leguizamo, Jake Choi, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Miriam A. Hyman

The Sun Is Also a Star is a tale of star-crossed lovers who meet by chance on the eve of the woman's deportation back to Jamaica.    They walk the city, talk, flirt, and despite the woman's insistence that she doesn't believe in love, she falls hard for the guy.   All within 24 hours.    There may be people who are awed by the romance in this movie, the Deep conversations about fate and coincidence, and then onscreen examples of such.    I am not among those people, but if you are, then you will enjoy The Sun Is Also a Star much more than I did.

We meet Daniel (Melton) and Natasha (Shahidi) on a very important day in each of their lives.   Daniel has a meeting with a Dartmouth University representative that morning in hopes of becoming a doctor.    Daniel doesn't actually want to be doctor, his parents want him to be one, and he lacks the courage to say no.    Natasha and her family are going to be deported tomorrow, and Natasha wants to use this last day in hopes of finding a Hail Mary pass which will keep her family in the United States.    Her mother and father have resigned themselves to their fate, while Natasha makes an appointment with an immigration lawyer (Leguizamo), who may be able to stay the deportation.

But before their meetings, Daniel saves Natasha from nearly being squished by a speeding car and invites himself into her life.    He comes on strong, and in a more cynical movie, Natasha would tell him to buzz off, but she doesn't.    She allows him to walk her to the building where she has the meeting with the lawyer, and, wouldn't you know it, his meeting with the Dartmouth representative is in the same building.    Wouldn't it be something if they both were meeting with the same guy?
Nah, that would be too farfetched, right?

Soon Natasha and Daniel find themselves with a few hours to kill, and Natasha (who has yet to tell Daniel that her mail will be forwarded to Jamaica as of tomorrow) seemingly forgets all about the little matter of her family's deportation.    The movie seems to also.   Natasha meets Daniel's South Korean family, who run an ethnic hair care store in Harlem.    Daniel's father wants Daniel to honor the family by becoming a doctor, but Daniel wants to be a hip-hop artist (I think).    Daniel's brother Charlie (Choi) is hostile towards him, perhaps out of either envy or because he isn't allowed to have any other character traits except hostility.    After a long overdue fistfight, Charlie suddenly becomes a nice guy.    All the way in Queens, Daniel soon meets Natasha's family, who have more pressing matters to attend to than meeting Natasha's new love.

Daniel and Natasha have limitless energy and funding to travel all around New York like they do.   
They have time enough to slow down, have Daniel sing a karaoke version of "Crimson and Clover", which sparked unintentional laughter at the screening I attended and engage in PG-13 dry humping before Natasha decides she simply can't love Daniel.    Barring a legal miracle, her objections to a full-fledged romance are understandable.    Daniel is not as realistic.    He is all for following this true love thing to the end of the line, whenever and wherever that may lead.

I'm no expert in immigration law, but wouldn't a deportation be treated with a little more scrutiny than this one?    Wouldn't there be immigration agents around to ensure the family gets on the plane? 
The family packs so light you would think they were taking a weekend vacation to Jamaica instead of living there permanently.   But, The Sun Is Also a Star isn't drenched in realism, and it wasn't made to be.   It is for hopeless romantics who believe love can overcome all obstacles, legal or otherwise.   That isn't an unworthy premise, and the actors are appealing even though they aren't given much of interest to say. but The Sun Is Also a Star soon becomes so bogged down in lovey-doveyness that it just becomes silly.