Metacritic reviews

While great direction isn’t the worst problem to have, the fact that the writing and acting couldn’t quite live up to their gorgeous surroundings hollows the experience of watching it.

If its heart-pounding romance doesn’t make you cry, its sorely needed sense of optimism will surely make you smile.

Sure, Sagan’s scientific method dominates the universe. But here on earth, this crowd-pleaser convinces us to spend one day savoring an American Dream.

Although the big-screen adaptation of Nicola Yoon’s best-selling young adult novel finds welcome specificity in its world and character building, it never rises above the most generic of platitudes in its central teen love story.

The leads are both charming, but they can’t override the tooth-aching sincerity of the script, or the cardboard conflicts that propel it.

The driving engine behind the film — a whirlwind 24-hour romance — is contrived, underwhelming and perhaps worst of all, unconvincing.

But if you’re waiting for that heartbeat-skipping moment that big screen romances have to deliver to come off, don’t bother your cardiologist. The Sun is Also a Star can’t deliver one.

Daniel tells Natasha of his elements for falling in love, “My ingredients are friendship, chemistry, the X factor,” and he assures her that they have that last one. But that’s what The Sun Is Also a Star lacks: that ineffable quality that makes it work. Though we spend nearly two hours in its presence, it never makes us fall in love with it, despite its best efforts.

Russo-Young (“Before I Fall”) takes some considerable risks in her direction to make The Sun Is Also a Star look different from the typical romantic drama. But not all of these creative decisions pay off.

As talented as Yara Shahidi and Charles Melton are individually, they don’t have much chemistry.