Tracker Pixel for Entry

​Adrian Tomine’s Cult Comic ‘Shortcomings’ Adapted by Randall Park in Directorial Debut

Cinema | August 18th, 2023

By Greg Carlson

gregcarlson1@gmail.com

Randall Park, making his feature directorial debut, convincingly adapts Adrian Tomine’s excellent 2004-2007 graphic serial “Shortcomings.”

Tomine wrote the screenplay, which comes as a relief to longtime “Optic Nerve” fans worried that a movie wouldn’t adequately capture the particularities of the author’s beautifully minimalist lines and the mood contained in the spaces within and between the panels. The collaborators are so obviously invested in the integrity of the original content that the spirit carries over, even if the pacing feels faster than the more languid introspection afforded by the comics medium.

A few timely pop culture updates, including both direct and indirect references to items like “Crazy Rich Asians” and “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood,” indicate the ways in which some things change and others stay the same for a central character known for intense pessimism served with a large helping of sarcasm and negativity. Those signature personality traits place Ben (a super Justin H. Min, as good here as in “After Yang”) in a rarefied category: the misanthropic protagonist who challenges audience expectations in regard to rooting interest and sympathy.

Tomine’s existing fanbase is already prepared to spend time with asshole Ben, who manages a Berkeley theater as a film school dropout (providing many opportunities for additional self-reflexive cinematic in-jokes, name-checks, quotations, and homages; in one sense, Ben watches people watching movies).

Ben’s longtime girlfriend Miko (Ally Maki) moves to NYC for an internship, signaling doom for the couple’s future and setting the stage for a series of misbegotten romances and bad choices. Ben’s fondness for white women gives Park and company some meaty material to chew. The racial/ethical minefield is met head-on, even though the film version notably leaves out the size anxiety referred to in the title’s double entendre.

The sharp and incisive way in which cultural representation, identity, and fetish bump up against and are filtered through classic screwball tropes is handled by Park with aplomb – one of the funniest scenes is the mirror turnabout that introduces Ben to white guy Leon (Timothy Simons), a Japanese-speaking Asiaphile. Park alternates between Ben’s dating misadventures and his conversations with best pal Alice (Sherry Cola), who uses Ben as a beard to avoid coming out to her religious Korean family. Cola is another of Park’s assets, her presence alleviating some measure of Ben’s suffocating cold-bloodedness.

Hopefully, the movie version of “Shortcomings” will lead viewers to the book. In a 2016 essay, Stella Oh investigates varieties of spectatorship and voyeurism in the original work that might not be as immediately apparent (or at least as visually emphasized) to those now looking at Park’s film.

Oh writes, “As a conscious and active collaborator in the graphic novel, the audience witnesses the multiple failures Ben is subjected to and critically views multiple lenses, frames, and screens that reflect racial and gendered identities.”

Viewers of the new movie are also exposed to Ben’s shortcomings, but the foregrounding of the comedic separates the totality of the cinematic and group experience (even if many consumers will be streaming at home) from the more apparent melancholia emanating from Tomine’s panels, which are intensified by the typically solitary act of reading.

Recently in:

By Winona LaDukewinona@winonaladuke.comIt’s been eight years since the Water Protectors were cleared off the banks of the Cannonball and Missouri Rivers. It was a bitter ending to a battle to protect the water; and for most of us…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com Rodeo is a family tradition for sisters Kate and Tera Flitton. The duo performs under the moniker Stellar Trick Riding Cowgirls. The Utah natives will be performing along with bareback riders,…

On view through March 31215 N. 3rd St, Grand ForksThe Equal Rights Association (ERA NOW), Arts for Vets, and the Women’s Fund have joined forces in hosting an art exhibition in celebration of International Women’s Day. The 2025…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com I feel like reading a newspaper is the equivalent of listening to music on vinyl. Not only is it analog, it’s an experience. I might be a little biased, but there's something about the rustling…

By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comLennon: “Imagine no possessions, I wonder if you can!”On January 8, 2025, Timothy W. Rybeck of “The Atlantic" magazine published “How Hitler Dismantled a Democracy in 53 Days” with the…

By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.com Holiday wine shopping shouldn’t have to be complicated. But unfortunately it can cause unneeded anxiety due to an overabundance of choices. Don’t fret my friends, we once again have you covered…

By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.com The below zero temperatures endured this recent January and February were a motivator to find something fun and interesting to do to lift the spirits. (Insert blue, teeth-chattering emoji here.) To…

Mooncats and Pert Near Sandstone play Empire TheatreBy Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comThe MoonCats describe themselves as “Americonscious Campfire Folk.” They have a clear acoustic folk sound with a sense of whimsy — think…

By Greg Carlsongregcarlson1@gmail.com The opening night showcase of the 2025 Fargo Film Festival is Jennifer Tiexiera and Guy Mossman’s excellent documentary feature “Speak.” The movie premiered during the Sundance Film…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comTelling Queer History is an LGBTQIA+ organization that utilizes oral storytelling and community building to educate, honor and collect oral histories. To honor its final year in operation, the …

By John Showalterjohn.d.showalter@gmail.comHigh Plains Reader had the opportunity to interview two mysterious new game show hosts named Milt and Bradley Barker about an upcoming event they will be putting on at Brewhalla. What…

By Annie Prafckeannieprafcke@gmail.com AUSTIN, Texas – As a Chinese-American, connecting to my culture through food is essential, and no dish brings me back to my mother’s kitchen quite like hotdish. Yes, you heard me right –…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comNew Jamestown Brewery Serves up Local FlavorThere’s something delicious brewing out here on the prairie and it just so happens to be the newest brewery west of the Red River and east of the…

By Josette Ciceronunapologeticallyanxiousme@gmail.com What does it mean to truly live in a community —or should I say, among community? It’s a question I have been wrestling with since I moved to Fargo-Moorhead in February 2022.…

By Faye Seidlerfayeseidler@gmail.com Somewhere lost in the cultural scuffle of what it means to be transgender is that it is an absolute joy to experience the world in such a way. When you take away the societal prejudice and…

By Gilbert Kuipersgilbertkuipers@outlook.com I live in North Dakota District 24 and have been challenging the district Republicans about their understanding of climate science for years. There has been no serious response to my…