Anyone who has read my semi-scathing review of P.S. I Still Love You knows that I was not planning to watch this movie. But some friends and I held a COVID-safe Valentine’s movie night, and before I knew it, the opening credits to To All the Boys: Always and Forever, Lara Jean were rolling.
I don’t want to say I was pleasantly surprised, because my expectations were in the sewer. However, I didn’t completely hate this movie. Parts of it rubbed me the wrong way, yes, but the final installment in the To All the Boys I Loved Before ended the trilogy on a relative high note. That said, let’s get into what I liked and what I disliked about Netflix’s Always and Forever, Lara Jean.
What I Liked:
They took my advice
Ha, I’m not actually trying to suggest that Always and Forever filmmakers consulted this humble blog as they wrote their script, but if we take a look back at my review of the second movie, they actually addressed some of my points of criticism.
- Lara Jean’s sisters made a triumphant return to relevance.
- We got to witness the development of some of the series’ more appealing side characters, like Dr. Covey and Trina (the neighbor), and Chris and Trevor.
- The third film depicted the ups and downs of Lara Jean and Peter’s relationship in a much more realistic manner.
- Lara Jean toned down the histrionics a bit.
This isn’t to say that Always and Forever fixed everything wrong with the P.S. I Still Love You, but it was certainly a step in the right direction.
Some actual substance and a pinch of emotional maturity
Facing down my final semester of college and the wide open world beyond, the issue of how to navigate job offers, higher education, and relationship-based priorities is a difficult reality for many of my peers. College itself represents a similar transition period, and a myriad factors influence where students choose to attend. Proximity to family, friends, and significant others conflicts with academic or athletic opportunities, and the most familiar option isn’t always the best one. Always and Forever skillfully portrays this conflict of interests as Lara Jean struggles to decide between the city and creative writing program she has fallen in love with at NYU and her dream of attending Stanford with Peter.
By expanding upon Peter’s rocky relationship with his father, Always and Forever added another dimension of realism to the movie. Introducing real-world issues of divorce and remarriage grounded a plot otherwise overly buoyed by tenets of fairytale romance in realism and relatability.
What I Disliked:
Lara Jean is still the worst
I can’t stand Lara Jean. I’ve said it before, I’m saying it now, and I’m pretty sure if there was a fourth book to adapt, I would say it again. Although she improves from absolutely intolerable to merely aggravating, Lara Jean continues to place too much stock in shallow romantic stereotypes and create her own problems. Not every relationship has to have a special song. And the entire Stanford rejection drama could have been avoided if Lara Jean immediately told Peter she texted the wrong person.
A general lack of continuity
At least Lara Jean’s character was consistent. The same cannot be said of some of the plotlines running between the films in this series. I found it upsetting that Always and Forever provided no insight into what happened to John (the recipient of Lara Jean’s second letter) after P.S. I Still Love You. Actually, now that I think about it, I have no idea what happened to Josh (another neighbor/crush/letter-recipient of Lara Jean’s) from the first movie either.
Although this trilogy features plenty of interesting secondary characters, it also tends to unceremoniously discard their storylines. Which is disappointing, because at times I find myself more invested in those secondary storylines than in Lara Jean’s shenanigans. Stormy (my favorite character from P.S. I Still Love You) was conspicuously absent from Always and Forever, and while Chris and Trevor were present, their involvement in the plot was superficial at best. Gen underwent no character development in this movie, and there was no resolution to the story of her parents’ divorce. I also would have liked to see a little more of Margo and Kitty and Dae’s (cute!) dalliance.
Things I don’t know whether to label “unrealistic” or flat-out “wrong”
This movie made me laugh more than a few times, and not in a good way. Pointless, barely-chaperoned trip from Oregon to New York City aside, there are only so many blatant inaccuracies I can let slide. I can ignore the fact that Lara Jean and co. must have teleported across Manhattan to visit that many scattered tourist destinations in a single day of sightseeing. (It does make for a fun montage.) But suspension of disbelief only takes me so far. Letting high school students wander around NYC alone all night seems like a huge liability. And beyond that… Look, I’ve been to a few college parties, and, uh, they don’t look like rooftop concerts-gone-cocktail-galas.
More importantly, there is nothing I hate more than when people in movies treat the college admissions process like a predictable walk in the park. High School Musical (which is otherwise great) presents a particularly great example of this fallacy. One does not simply apply to Julliard on a whim, or finagle last-minute recruitment onto Cal’s men’s basketball team, unless you’re in a Disney movie. Life doesn’t work that way. Similarly, I take offense at Lara Jean’s treatment of amazing universities like UCLA and UC Berkeley as undesirable safety schools. I already sound like a bitter, crotchety college senior and I don’t mean to air all my grievances with the universe here, but come on.
If you get anything out of this post, then remember this, children: it is NEVER, EVER a good idea to choose a college purely based on where your significant other is going. Degrees are forever. High school romances… often are not. (Although there are absolutely exceptions, even in my own life!) That said, in the end, I actually thought Always and Forever, Lara Jean did a great job of promoting putting one’s own dreams first.
The Verdict:
Always and Forever, Lara Jean gave us an appropriately cheesy ending to a series of silly teenage romance movies. The movie’s secondary characters provided much-needed support when the film’s plot and protagonists faltered. Although unbearable at times, Always and Forever had moments of salient emotional conflict that shone through the cringe.
Overall, I would give this movie a 4.5/10. Hey, it was better than the second one.