In praise of 3-star storytelling

As I got deeper into literature, film, theater, etc. in high school and college, I began to catalogue the great works of art. Some of those were fed to me: Citizen Kane, 100 Years of Solitude, anything Shakespeare, Pride and Prejudice, Waiting for Godot, and so on.

And I learned to use specific criteria to define for myself what other works of art were also in the pantheon. There is a line between good and great. And you can tell the difference based on technique, themes, and general importance. Does the story tell a story that’s deeper than what the story is about? Is there something innovative in the structure or syntax? And probably the most often used criteria: is the artist already considered a genius or auteur?

When The English Patient came out in 1996, I saw it, and I thought it was incredibly shot, acted, and written. It’s a major accomplishment of cinema, this swelling epic. But also, there’s no way I’ll ever watch it again. It’s very long, and kind of dull. Lots of Great Art is this way. And I appreciate the importance of studying these books and films and so on. There’s plenty to learn from them. But mostly I just want something that turns the page or keeps me interested in what’s happening.

I’ve become a fan over the past few years of the 3-star story, something that can’t really be categorized as Great Art. Maybe it’s too on-the-nose, too genre-y, too sloppy or uneven. Maybe it’s trying to do too much and fails. Or perhaps it succeeds but at doing something it feels like we’ve seen a million times.

If you make a perfect cheese pizza, that’s great. No one will consider you a master chef, but they will happily eat your delicious comfort food. But what if you try mixing goat cheese and a little cottage cheese with Havarti in your topping? And then you did a graham flour crust? It’s probably a tart, pungent, liquid mess. Or maybe it’s great. I don’t know. But I would be it would be a touch polarizing. Kudos to you for trying to push the pizza envelope. Points for art! Though, points deducted for making what sounds like a mess of a slice.

But I’m down for people trying something different, either in the art form or in their own repertoire. Often the result is a 3-star product, some average of 1-star and 5 star. Example: I just saw Beau Is Afraid, a 3-hour movie about a character who exhibits little to no agency. It’s, at times, dull. Other times incomprehensible. Other times silly. But many times it’s enthralling and sick, in all the right ways. And I’d prefer watching this over any other polished epic.

Romcoms, cozy mysteries, and teen dramas all kind of fall into the 3-star field as well. They’re not doing anything fancy or artsy, but they get you through a few hours of an evening. And you feel better, at least while watching them.

Recently, Audible recommended a mystery novel to me by an author I’d never heard of (I’m going to leave the title/author out of this, bc while I really enjoyed the book, this person’s a relatively new writer, and I don’t want my first mention of them publicly to be “3 stars!” I wouldn’t have meant it as an insult, but it kind of is, semantically speaking). And I listened to it, and I really enjoyed it. I’ll not hold it up to the works of Agatha Christie or Tana French or Michael Connolly, but it was really well-done, with some big plot holes, and interesting characters. Well worth the 9 hours of listening I did. 3 stars! Thank you, unnamed author!

And all of this is not to take anything away from groundbreaking art. There’s nothing like the thrill of a witnessing a masterpiece, but also searching for perfection is exhausting, and I’ve found that it distracts me from what I really want, which is to just read or watch a story for a bit.

I’d be curious what you’re watching or reading that’s not in the current cultural conversation. Is there a romcom, horror, mystery, or even family drama sort of deal that’s not going to blow me away, but that I’ll feel great about reading or watching. Something to take me away for an hour or more.

-Jeffrey Cranor