BOY MEETS GIRL (2015) | MOVIE REVIEW

In the spirit of solidarity with the film BOY MEETS GIRL, I’m going to be completely honest: I don’t like reviewing movies. A strange, and certainly incongruous, feeling for a movie review to have, but there it is nonetheless. I don’t like judging art or reducing it to numbers. To quote one of my favorite films, DEAD POETS SOCIETY, “We’re not laying pipe! We’re talking about poetry. How can you describe poetry like American Bandstand? ‘I like Byron, I give him a 42 but I can’t dance to it!’” Art is to be experienced, not boiled down to a few notes and a score.

This reticence to review a movie digs deeper when it comes to independent movies that have been sent to us. Sadly, for the most part, I’ve not enjoyed these types of films in the past, so each time a new one is mentioned I’m less and less likely to want to review it. I’d rather be silent than take someone else’s work and shred it. Independent movies are often works of great passion by earnest people who have limited budgets, time, and actor pools to draw from, and as an independent writer, I sympathize greatly. But, when the movie BOY MEETS GIRL was offered to me and I read the synopsis, I knew it was a film I had to watch. After having seen it, I’m so glad I did, and I think it’s a film you should watch too.

According to the official press materials, BOY MEETS GIRL is a funny, tender, sex/human positive romantic-dramedy that explores what it means to be a man or woman in love, and how important it is to live a courageous life not letting fear stand in the way of going after your dreams. BOY MEETS GIRL is indeed all that, but I think it’s also something more.

At the center of the film is the character of Ricky, a transgender girl played by acting newcomer Michelle Hendley, whom writer/director Eric Schaeffer initially saw on YouTube before bringing her to L.A. to audition for the movie. As a beginning actor, Hendley’s performance lacks a bit of polish, but what she lacks in experience she more than makes up for in charm and sincerity. She’s a delight to watch. Her character Ricky – who dreams of one day moving to New York City to become a fashion designer – has spent her entire life in a small Tennessee town that, while having its fair share of redneck challenges, has been a good, accepting home. She lives with her father and younger brother, and has a best friend that might be more in Robby, who’s played with true comedic charisma by Michael Welch.

Into the midst of this small town comes Francesca, a blond beauty engaged to a marine deployed to the Middle East. Alexandra Turshen does an incredible job of portraying the complex emotions of someone who has given her heart to a man fighting far away, yet now finds herself face-to-face with Ricky, a person who inspires feelings within her she never knew were possible. The film is called BOY MEETS GIRL, but to whom that’s referring to isn’t immediately clear, which I thoroughly enjoyed watching play out.

Across the board, the acting is very good, from the main actors to the bit players, with not one person dropping their end. I also enjoyed the choice in music, and the location itself is easy on these southern eyes of mine. The only area the film faulters in – and this only happens a few times – is the sound mix. There were moments when the sound drops out suddenly right before some dialogue is spoken. It’s a bit jarring. But, if that’s the only failing I can find, then we’re just fine.

BOY MEETS GIRL is a movie that does the impossible – it delivers a powerful, important message, yet it does so without a hint of arrogance or preaching. It presents people at their best and worst, vilifying none of them while also not giving us characters who are without sin. Too often a film of this sort turns its central character in a cypher through which it delivers its message, but not so here. Michelle Hendley is a trans girl playing a trans girl, and the truth of who she is is writ large in her compassionate, understanding eyes. The poet Keats once wrote, “beauty is truth, truth beauty.” BOY MEETS GIRL is that truth, and there is genuine beauty in it. It’s a movie that will stick with me long after I see it, yet I can’t wait to watch it again. Thanks to everyone who helped bring this film into the world. Hopefully BOY MEETS GIRL will be a force for good in a world that suddenly seems so ugly and hateful and mean.

Written and Directed by Eric Schaeffer
Starring Michelle Hendley, Michael Welch, and Alexandra Turshen

Justin Macumber
The Hollywood Outsider