A warning, this episode contains explicit language.

The movie Short Cummings is a tart comedy about a cynical cinephile with a lot of hang-ups. Ben hates his job

and is emotionally checked out of his relationship with his longtime girlfriend and

when the couple goes on a hiatus he's forced to confront unresolved insecurities

tied to his Asian American identity.

The movie is directed by Randall Park and it has a lot to say about interracial dating and

intra racial conflict.

I'm Aisha Harris and today we're talking about shortcomings on pop culture happy hour from NPR.

Joining me today is writer Cat Chow. Welcome back, Cat.

Hi, thank you for having me on.

Great to have you. Also joining us is writer and critic Walter Chow.

Welcome back to you too, Walter.

I am so glad to be here.

Yeah.

Oh, two chowows, different spellings. I know. So we have two chows today. So in shortcomings, Justin H. Min plays Ben, a miserable dude who's at an impasse in life.

So he's on the outs with his girlfriend, Miko, played by Ali Maki, and instead of pursuing

his dream of being a filmmaker,

he's managing a struggling indie movie theater in Berkeley, California.

Now when Miko announces she's moving to New York

for a few months for an internship, they decide to take a break,

and then finds himself suddenly and very awkwardly back out on the dating scene.

Cherry Kola plays Ben's punchy best friend Alice and Tavi Gevenson and Debbie Ryan

...