Always Be My Maybe a solidly engaging and casually heartfelt affair

Always Be My Maybe is a solidly engaging and casually heartfelt affair, with two well-matched leads and a surprise casting coup that pays off handsomely.

In case you haven’t noticed, romantic comedies are having a tough time of it finding slots in cinemas these days.

The likes of a Crazy Rich Asians or Long Shot will occasionally cut through, but not often enough for real rom-com junkies.

However, in the boom times currently enjoyed by the major streaming platforms, the romantic comedy is in exceptional health.

Netflix is experiencing a boom with rom-coms and Always Be My Maybe is a perfect example.

A perfect example is Always Be My Maybe, a solidly engaging and casually heartfelt affair, with two well-matched leads and a surprise casting coup that pays off handsomely.

Ali Wong and Randall Park star as Sasha and Marcus, who we learn early on were best friends and also next-door neighbours in their childhood.

The pair stayed tight until their late teens, when the death of Marcus’ mother — who, important to the later plotting, taught Sasha to cook — triggers an unexpected moment of tenderness that ultimately drives them far apart.

Comedians Ali Wong and Randall Park star as leads Sasha and Marcus.

Cut to two decades later, and Sasha is now a nationally renowned chef, the kind of full-on foodie fashionista destined to get their own restaurant, their own TV series and their own way, no matter what happens.

As for Marcus, well, umm, he is still living at home with his dad.

Of course, Always Be My Maybe is going to come up with a way to get these opposites attracting all over again, but it does take quite an enjoyable route in doing so.

It does help no end that Wong, best known as an acerbic stand-up comic, is coming off a pair of acclaimed concert specials (Baby Cobra and Hard Knock Wife) that have taken her popularity to a whole new level.

Keanu Reeves plays a prominent role that is anything but a typical celebrity cameo.

While not the greatest actor, Wong’s sharp-tongued delivery and her obvious chemistry with Park (a very familiar face in American movie comedies over the past decade) keeps Always Be My Maybe moving in the right direction.

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As an added bonus, any viewer beginning to tire of the cute and cosy rom-com content should wait it out until Keanu Reeves shows up in a prominent (and quite amusing) role that is anything but a typical celebrity cameo.

ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE (M)

Director: Nahnatchka Khan (Fresh Off The Boat)

Starring: Ali Wong, Randall Park, Daniel Dae Kim, Keanu Reeves.

Rating: ***

Love comes late, then Keanu comes later