Fire Island

A romantic comedy set on a holiday island. Noah and his friends go to the same place every summer: Erin's house on Fire Island, where she has hosted them for years. This year will be the last; the house is being sold and the group will scatter. Noah makes a decision: this holiday he will work not for himself but for his friend Howie. Howie is shy and meets nobody. The plan is to put him with someone. There is a wealthy set on the island and a distance opens between the two groups: whose house is larger, who is invited where, who talks to whom. Noah is constantly at odds with a man from that circle named Will. The structure comes from a Jane Austen novel and the film says so openly. The shape is the same: prejudice, misunderstanding and class. The real centre is friendship. While the romance advances, the ties inside the group and how long they can last are argued over. Joel Kim Booster wrote the screenplay and plays Noah. Bowen Yang plays Howie and Margaret Cho plays Erin. Andrew Ahn directed. It was released on a streaming service. A warm choice for anyone who likes romantic comedy and stories about a group of friends. For a viewer expecting surprise, the plot follows its source and is predictable.