I found this movie really entertaining. I really loved the leads and I thought that their romance was actually really moving. There were some genuinely heart wrenching scenes (the one in the rain! Where she falls down! AHHH!) that actually surprised me. I think the lead actress is definitely the stronger of the two in terms of acting, but her costar does a fair job.

The nostalgic feeling to the movie is great and I think the funny moments are often actually funny, which is a good. In terms of a coming of age movie there were some great moments that were cliched but charming and reminded me of something out of 10 Things I Hate About You. The rollerskating scenes were great, the school auditorium scenes, etc. I also thought that once the love triangle really got going things were really cooking, and the painful tragedy of unrequited love/miscommunication in first love was well played.

Things that I don't think worked so well are the cliched medical plot lines (including the reason that he had to move away? And they lost contact?), the dumb tragic backstory, the ENDING WITH THE CHARACTERS GROWN UP, and some of the more intense gang-related scenes felt pretty cringey and ridiculous. I think this movie is enjoyable because of the connection between the leads and the heart-ache and sweetness of their relationship, but it is certainly a flawed film with whole parts that really just don't work.