Shortcomings
Director: Randall Park Run Time: 92 min. Rating: R Release Year: 2023
Starring: Ally Maki, Debby Ann Ryan, Justin H. Min, Sherry Cola, Tavi Gevinson
Ben, a struggling filmmaker, lives in Berkeley, California, with his girlfriend, Miko, who works for a local Asian American film festival. When he’s not managing an arthouse movie theater as his day job, Ben spends his time obsessing over unavailable blonde women, watching Criterion Collection DVDs, and eating in diners with his best friend Alice, a queer grad student with a serial dating habit. When Miko moves to New York for an internship, Ben is left to his own devices, and begins to explore what he thinks he might want.
Randall Park is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for his role as Louis Huang in the ABC sitcom Fresh Off the Boat (2015–2020), for which he was nominated for the Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series award in 2016.
“Shortcomings takes some bruising blows at cultural expectations… it’s also about growing up a little too late and having to reckon with your own rotten self. Oh, and it’s hilarious.” ~ Alissa Wilkinson, Vox
“A fresh-faced, funny directorial debut from the ever-engaging Park…” ~ Jessica Kiang, Variety