Always Be My Maybe is a 2019 American romantic comedy film written by Ali Wong, Randall Park, and Michael Golamco. Nahnatchka Khan directed the film. It stars Park and Wong as childhood friends named Marcus and Sasha. They stopped talking to each other after a short relationship that did not go well when they were teenagers. Sasha returns to San Francisco to open a restaurant. She and Marcus still feel the same romantic connection they had when they were teenagers. However, Marcus’s fears and Sasha’s busy career make it difficult for them to start a new relationship. Other actors in the film include James Saito, Michelle Buteau, Vivian Bang, Daniel Dae Kim, and Keanu Reeves.
The film was shown in some theaters on May 29, 2019. It was also released on Netflix on May 31, 2019.
Plot
In 1996, Sasha Tran and Marcus Kim are friends who live next to each other in San Francisco. Sasha’s parents, who are Vietnamese immigrants, often leave her home alone while they work at their store. Marcus’s parents frequently invite Sasha to dinner, and his mother, Judy, who is Korean-American, teaches her how to cook.
By 2003, Sasha and Marcus become close friends during their childhood and teenage years. However, their friendship ends after Marcus’s mother dies in an accident. Both are very sad, and they have a relationship. Soon after, they argue and stop speaking to each other.
In 2019, Sasha is a famous chef and engaged to Brandon Choi, a successful restaurant owner. Marcus still lives in San Francisco with his father and plays music in a band that is not very well-known. He also has a girlfriend named Jenny, who is Asian American and has dreadlocks. Sasha ends her engagement with Brandon after he delays their wedding again. She briefly returns to San Francisco to help open a new restaurant and meets Marcus when his father and he are hired to install air conditioning in her temporary home.
At first, Sasha and Marcus have some difficulty talking to each other, but they reconnect and become friends again. Marcus tells his father that he still cares about Sasha. However, before he can share this with Sasha, she announces she has met someone new. They go on a chaotic double date with Marcus’s girlfriend and Sasha’s new partner, movie star Keanu Reeves. During the evening, Sasha admits she has always liked Marcus, a fight breaks out between Marcus and Keanu, and Jenny stays with Keanu for the night. Later, Sasha and Marcus have sex.
Sasha and Marcus begin a relationship. Marcus helps Sasha reconnect with the home and San Francisco community she had avoided because of her parents’ absence. He takes her to a favorite childhood restaurant, which she once disliked but now finds delicious, though it reminds her of painful memories.
As Sasha becomes more connected to the city and falls in love with Marcus, she plans to move to New York for her next project after launching a restaurant in San Francisco. When she asks Marcus to join her, he refuses, and she leaves San Francisco alone.
Marcus is criticized by his father and bandmates for not moving forward in life. He realizes his fear of moving on is linked to his mother’s death. He leaves his childhood home and works to make his band more successful. He calls Sasha regularly but stops when she does not reply. Later, he learns Sasha secretly supports his music. Encouraged, Marcus surprises Sasha at an awards show in New York, asks her to take him back, and promises to be wherever she is. She agrees. Together, Sasha takes Marcus to her new restaurant in New York, which is named after and includes recipes from Judy.
Production
Ali Wong and Randall Park met in the late 1990s during a fried-rice cooking competition hosted by a mutual friend from the LCC Theatre Company, an Asian American performance group that Park co-founded while attending UCLA. Park and Wong remained close friends and supported each other's work over the years.
In 2016, Wong told The New Yorker that she and Park had been working for years to create a movie similar to When Harry Met Sally…. A writer for Vulture encouraged Hollywood to make the film, calling it a dream project. In August 2017, Netflix approved an untitled film written by Wong, Park, and Michael Golamco, with Wong set to costar. In March 2018, Nahnatchka Khan was named the director for her first film. Principal photography began in Vancouver and San Francisco in May 2018. In May 2018, Keanu Reeves, Daniel Dae Kim, Michelle Buteau, Vivian Bang, Karan Soni, Charlyne Yi, James Saito, Lyrics Born, and Susan Park joined the cast, and the film was officially titled Always Be My Maybe.
At first, casting Keanu Reeves seemed unlikely. Khan said, "We didn’t know if he would be available or willing to play himself." Park added, "We thought it might be impossible." Other actors considered for the role included Tony Leung, Mark Dacascos, M. Night Shyamalan, and Paul Giamatti. Reeves, a fan of Wong’s stand-up comedy, agreed to participate and arranged his schedule to film his scenes. Khan said, "He was honored to be part of this love story."
Reeves reviewed the script with Wong and Khan at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles. He suggested changes, such as having a character wear glasses with no lenses and adding a scene where he pretends to fight. Wong said, "His ideas made the movie funnier."
Principal photography began on May 30, 2018, in Vancouver. Additional filming took place in San Francisco from July 15 to July 26, 2018. Reeves, who was filming John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum at the time, traveled to San Francisco to shoot his scenes before returning to New York.
Park’s character in the film is based on his earlier music career as a member of the 1990s Bay Area hip-hop group Ill Again. The fictional band Hello Peril is a reference to the term "yellow peril," which describes a historical fear of East Asian people. Rapper Lyrics Born appears as a band member. Park co-wrote several rap songs for the movie with producer Dan the Automator. The end-credits song, "I Punched Keanu Reeves," was written by Park as a tribute to Reeves. Park asked Reeves for permission to use the song, and Reeves agreed.
The film’s title is a play on the name of Mariah Carey’s 1996 song "Always Be My Baby."
Release
The movie Always Be My Maybe came out in some theaters in the United States on May 29, 2019, and was also available on Netflix on May 31, 2019.
In July 2019, Netflix said that 32 million households watched the film during its first four weeks after it was released.
Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a positive rating of 89% based on 100 reviews, with an average score of 7.1 out of 10. The site's summary says, "Carried by the charming personalities of Ali Wong and Randall Park, Always Be My Maybe uses common romantic comedy ideas and adds thoughtful messages about society to create a unique and enjoyable story." On Metacritic, the film has an average score of 64 out of 100, based on reviews from 20 critics, which means the reviews are "generally favorable."
Courtney Howard from Variety wrote: "The best parts of the film are scenes that serve multiple purposes. They are both funny and genuine, add a light and lively feel through clever humor and charm, and challenge typical romantic comedy traditions." Peter Travers from Rolling Stone called it "a fun and appealing romantic comedy that turns familiar ideas into something sweet, confident, and very funny." Beandrea July from The Hollywood Reporter gave a mixed review and wrote: "While trying to show Asian love, the film does not fully let its talented actors be themselves, which is what made them popular."
Always Be My Maybe was nominated at the 2019 People's Choice Awards for "The Comedy Movie Star of 2019 – Ali Wong." Randall Park and Dan the Automator were nominated for "Best Original Song – I Punched Keanu Reeves" at the 2019 Houston Film Critics Society Awards, but they won the award at the 2019 Chicago Indie Awards.