Tag: Asian Americans

QUIZ LADY – Review

So, how accurate are some of those old sayings? Well, in the case of “You can pick your friends, but you can’t pick your family”, well…yes, 100 percent. That’s especially true with siblings, going all the way back to Cain and Abel. Sure brothers battle, but is that ditto for sisters? This weekend’s new comedy uses that as its “springboard”. These two ladies couldn’t be more different or argumentative, Fortunately, they’re both hilarious, and their characters are played by two talented actresses. You see, the elder is a party gal while the other is saddled with the title QUIZ LADY.


We first meet the aforementioned QZ as a timid eight-year-old indulging in her favorite weekday activity, watching the live TV show “Can’t Stop the Quiz” hosted by true hero Terry McTeer (Will Ferrell). And she pretty much aces all the questions despite her older sister indulging in lots of teenage drama (boys, friends, dresses, etc.). And just a few years later she storms out of the house, as lil’ sister focuses on that program. Cut to her today and her grown-up adult self, Anne Yum (Awkwafina). She’s now living in a duplex building next to her cranky older neighbor Francine (Holland Taylor), and still never misses CSQ, though she now shares it with her aging pooch, Mr. Linguine. The next morning, like clockward, she’s off to her nine-to-five cubicle job as an accountant. Her routine is disrupted one day as she gets a call at work. It seems that her Mom has “booked” from the nursing home. Anne dashes down there just in time for an unexpected (and very unwanted) reunion with big sis Jenny (Sandra Oh). After some bickering, they learn that Mom is actually in Macao with her new beau. Then things get really complicated when her “loan shark” Ken (Jon Park) dognaps Linguine to ensure the sisters clear her eighty grand debt. But Jenny’s got a plan: Anne has to win the dough on CSQ! But she’s painfully shy and wants to go unnoticed and blend into the background. Can the two stop their verbal sparring long enough to get to the TV studio and get the beloved doggie back home?

Now here’s a great new comedy team-up! Though she’d be considered the “straight” partner of the duo (much like Bud Abbott). Awkwafina elicits lots of laughs as she commits to a constant shoulder slump while trying to dash past anyone who might spot her. This makes her annoyance about unwanted fame work so well. And it’s a terrific “set-up” for her loopy, loose body language under the influence of “relaxers” given by the human wrecking ball that is Ms. Oh as the no-filter big sis Jenny. Unlike lil’ sis, she’s confident with little talent or smarts to back it up, even comparing herself to Oprah as she tosses off her hair extensions. In the supporting but certainly pivotal role as the master TV MC, Ferrell tones down his usually manic persona, giving McTeer an endearing dorky quality echoing his SNL work as the great Trebek in their “Celebrity Jeopardy” sketches and killing it with awkward attempts at humor (to a contestant: “I see you’re from Kentucky. Did you ride here on your horse?”). Plus he’s got a great comic rapport with Jason Schwartzman as the unctuous, smarmy long-time CSQ champ Ron Heacock, flashing his way too bright “pearly whites”. Taylor brings her decades-old sitcom skills to bear as the always irritated and noisy next-door neighbor. Kudos also to the fabulous Tony Hale as the owner of a motel in Philly who really tries to stick with his Ben Franklin cosplay (“Does thou have a major credit card?”).

This sprightly-paced, candy-colored farce is helmed by Jessica Yu, squeezing every ounce of yucks possible from the screenplay by Jen D’Angelo. There are terrific satiric jabs at celebrity culture, workplace politics, and even at society’s stereotypes of Asians (when a trucker yells, “Learn to drive”, Jenny calls him racist until he leans out of the driver’s side window and, well you can guess). Not only does Yu elicit wonderful work from the lead duo, but she peppers the whole film with funny folks including a loving cameo showcasing a recently “taken too soon” comedy icon. Sure it is a smart script, but the film’s not too sophisticated for some well-executed slapstick and plenty of subtle sight gags. Yes, the idea of a long-running TV game show being broadcast live feels far-fetched (though Regis did it for several weeks twenty years ago), but it just adds to the silly comedy chaos and family bonding at the happy heart of QUIZ LADY.

3 Out of 4.

QUIZ LADY is now streaming exclusively on Hulu

SHORTCOMINGS – Review

Justin Min as Ben, Timothy Simons as Leon and Ally Maki as Miko, in SHORTCOMINGS. Photo credit: Jon Pack. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

We all have shortcomings but in SHORTCOMINGS, all the characters have them in abundance. This funny, smart, modern comedy follows the lives and misadventures of Ben Tanaka (Justin H. Min, who played Ben Hargreaves in the TV series “The Umbrella Academy” and Jimmy Woo in ANTMAN AND THE WASP), his best friend Alice Kim (comedian Sherry Cola) and his girlfriend Miko Hayashi (actress/fashion maven Ally Maki) as the San Francisco Bay area twenty-somethings navigate relationships and just real life. Based on the graphic novel of the same name by Adrian Tomine, SHORTCOMINGS is filled with laugh-out-loud humor and sharp, witty dialog in a real-life tale that also shows the variety of Asian American experience.

Based on a graphic novel of the same name by Adrian Tomine, SHORTCOMINGS is actor-turned director Randall Park’s first feature. Tomine also wrote the screen adaptation of his graphic novel for this hilarious, pointed comedy, which premiered at Sundance.

The story opens at the movies, where a feel-good wish-fulfillment Hollywood ending to an Asian American romance is on screen. The empowering happy ending sends the audience out of the theater in a glow, to the delight of the people putting on this Berkeley Asian film festival. Ben’s live-in girlfriend Miko is the assistant director of the film festival and very pleased with the film’s reaction. But wannabee film director Ben is rolling his eyes at the crowd-pleaser, complaining that there is not a single realistic character in the movie. Miko defensively pushes back, saying the film’s slick Hollywood style and positive representation of Asian Americans actually will open doors for more varied Asian American films, like Ben might make. Still, Ben continues to argue, even carrying over his negative attitude into the next days, creating a rift in their relationship.

In what may be a breakout role, Justin Min does an impressive job making Ben likable despite the character’s tendency to be argumentative, whiny and self-sabotaging while having no insight on his shortcomings in dealing with people. Further, Ben also doesn’t like change even though he is drifting through life. He calls himself a filmmaker, but really he works as the manager of an art-house movie theater, where he shows minimal interest in the theater’s success.

The couple continues to drift apart, arguing over Ben’s secret habit of searching for photos of white women, an obsession he denies. Shortly after, Miko announces she is going to accept an internship in New York. Ben immediately bad-mouths New York but doesn’t try to talk her out of it. Actually, he is worried about losing Miko, but keeps his worries to himself. When Miko leaves, she tells tells him they should take a break in their relationship. Again, Ben says nothing. But he immediately hits on Autumn (Tavi Gevinson), a pretty white woman he just hired at the theater. Then he quickly drops her to go out with another woman, again white, Sasha (Debbie Ryan) even though his friend Alice tries to warn him off her.

Ben certainly seems like a jerk at this point, and a lot of the characters tell him, again and again, that he is the problem – one time even using a reverse of that classic breakup line “it’s not you, it’s me,” letting him know that it is not the culture, it’s not prejudice, it’s him. But clueless Ben resists taking any of that to heart. With Miko in New York, the film follows Ben and Alice and their romantic misadventures. Sparkling, smart and funny dialog is one of the treats in this comedy but so are the relationship exchanges, which are so real world that you could imagine them in any relationship. The characters and situations, while played for comedy, all have a refreshing realism, with messy real-life situations and characters who are likable, complicated, contradictory and flawed all at the same time. The warts and all characters are refreshing rather than irritating because we are given insights on why they do what they do, even when their behavior is not nice and the characters themselves don’t have those insights.

While Ben is bad at revealing his feelings to his girlfriend Miko, he is more forthcoming with his best friend Alice especially while Miko is gone. Alice, a gay graduate student with a history of serial relationships, can be as insensitive as Ben, which might be part of why they get along so well. While Ben wants to hold on to the relationship he has been sabotaging, Alice’s response to relationship troubles is to run away.

Despite his missteps, Justin Min keeps Ben likable enough that we still care about him, while director Randall Park makes clear that Ben is as much the target of bad behavior as he is often the source. They are all behaving badly, and as the story develops, we see lots of shortcomings of other characters, often with Ben bearing the brunt of that, despite the verbal drumbeat of it being all Ben’s fault. In a way, it is, because his lack of insight on himself and his self-sabotage is at the heart of his troubles.

This is a very funny film but director Randall Park also aims to use humor spotlight some things about Asian Americans rarely seen on scene, like the diversity in the Asian American experience. In one particularly good sequence, Alice, afraid to reveal that she is gay to her conservative parents, persuades Ben to pose has her boyfriend to meet her parents, one Korean and the other Chinese. But she doesn’t want him reveal his Japanese heritage to her Korean grandfather, even though Ben points out that his family has been in the U.S. for several generations, because she worries about lingering prejudices from WWII. It sets up a hilarious, farcical exchange but highlights something non-Asians might not think about.

Eventually, Ben and Alice do end up in New York, partly fleeing their own messes back home, but also giving Ben a chance to find out what is going on with Miko, who has been dodging his calls. We meet Leon (Timothy Simons) and Meredith (Sonoya Mizuno), and more craziness, hilarious moments and telling insights ensue, as the film cleverly wraps things up, although not with the predictably neat Hollywood bow.

With humor that catches you off-guard until the end, delightfully smart dialog, and unexpected insights, SHORTCOMINGS has few shortcomings as a clever, insightful, real-world comedy.

SHORTCOMINGS opens Friday, August 4, in theaters.

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

BLUE BAYOU – Review

(L to R) Sydney Kowalske as “Jessie”, Justin Chon as “Antonio” and Alicia Vikander as “Kathy” in BLUE BAYOU, a Focus Features release.
Photo credit: Focus Features. Courtesy of Focus Features

Is it fair that a small child, legally adopted from another nation, is responsible for paperwork errors about citizenship, which puts the now-grown child’s immigration status in jeopardy? It sounds ridiculous but, in fact, that legal loophole does exist for some adoptees. BLUE BAYOU is Justin Chon’s powerful, winning drama about this subject, in which writer/director/producer Chon both directs and plays the lead character, Antonio LeBlanc, a struggling New Orleans tattoo artist who was legally adopted at age 3 from South Korea but now faces deportation due to paperwork left incomplete by his adoptive parents. This powerful drama features nuanced, appealing and realistic performances by Chon and Alicia Vikander, as his pregnant wife, and a wonderful performance by Sydney Kowalske as her seven-year-old daughter Jesse. BLUE BAYOU mixes a warm, realistic portrait of a family, with a particularly close father-daughter bond, with searing emotion in scenes where Chon’s character faces the immigration legal system that could change his life.

Antonio (Justin Chon), now in his thirties, is trying hard to support his family and be a good husband to wife Kathy (Alicia Vikander) and father to stepdaughter Jesse, the only father she has ever known. Jesse’s biological father, a cop called Ace (Mark O’Brien), abandoned Jesse and her mother when Jesse was small, but now wants to be part of his daughter’s life. On the other hand, Antonio has always been there for both Kathy and her daughter, despite his own troubled childhood which included abuse and youthful criminal record for the theft of motorcycles. Although they struggle financially and Antonio worries about money once the new baby arrives, the family is solid, happy and enjoying life together. When an ordinary parental disagreement while shopping in a grocery store gets a bit loud, Kathy’s ex, a cop called Ace steps in, along with his racist partner Denny. There is a scuffle, and Antonio is arrested. While that charge is dropped, Antonio is taken into custody by ICE over his immigration status.

We do get that famous song in the title, sung by Vikander, a nice moment in the film. BLUE BAYOU is a real tour-de-force by Chon, handling both his roles as director and lead actor with impressive skill. Long before Antonio faces his immigration crisis, the family wins our hearts. Chon is charismatic on-screen and we can’t help but like Antonio and cheer on a young man trying so hard to do the right thing. Much of the film’s appeal is in its the relationships, and particularly Antonio’s relationship with his stepdaughter.

Although Antonio even has a friend who is an ICE officer, who tries to help, the law limits what he can do. It is a completely unfair situation but one that is not rare for international adopted children, and in fact Chon’s script was inspired by a real-life case of a Korean-born adoptee. Chon has dealt with issues faced by Asian immigrants before, including in his film GOOK. Being Asian makes it harder for internationally adopted children to quietly blend in, despite being culturally American, something Chon highlights in a telling opening scene. Antonio, interviewing for a better paying job, faces skepticism about his identity despite his Louisiana accent and politely answers racist questions about his name and where he is from. Once immigration steps into his life, Antonio’s settled life is imperiled particularly by his youthful criminal record for stealing motorcycles, a past he has been struggling to overcome as a upright family man.

The film does a nice job with the accents, which sound authentic for New Orleans but are never overdone and distracting. Before Chon’s Antonio faces his unfair legal situation, the character wins our hearts, as does the film’s little family. Much of the film’s appeal is in its characters. One of the joys of the film is how realistic relationship is between the couple is portrayed by Chon and Vikander, with all the back-and-forth of real life parents and daily disagreements between any couple but with the underlying love between them. It is a realism few films get so right. The chemistry between Chon and Vikander is strong, and Vikander turns in one of her best performances here.

Likewise, the relationship between seven-year-old Jesse and Antonio, the only father she has ever known, is realistic and charming, and completely wins our hearts. Young Sydney Kowalske is cute, sweet, and believable in her role as Jesse, and the appealing scenes between father and daughter are among the film’s best.

Chon does have a message he wants to get across, and the film is sometimes heavy-handed in how it does that, although by the film’s end, his pull-no-punches approach feels justified. In 2000, Congress passed a law granting citizenship to children adopted from overseas but, oddly, excluding those who turned 18 before the law was passed. It makes no real sense, and drawing attention to that legal flaw may correct it.

The film is a bit slow to start, with a few too many scenes where Antonio revisits the same memory of his birth mother, and there is a side plot about another Asian immigrant, a cancer patient who immigrated with her family from Vietnam, which seems to add little to the story, other than portraying a different Asian American experience.

However, the film kicks into a higher gear once Antonio gets entangled with the immigration system, and leads to some emotionally searing scenes, ones that might leave the audience emotionally moved and also angry at the film’s end, with a few real-life examples of this unfair system shown with the end credits.

But any flaws in this film are well counterbalanced by the warmth and charm BLUE BAYOU creates around this family. Chon sparkles with on-camera as Antonio, creating a lead character we can’t help but like and cheer for, as the dad and husband who is trying to do the right thing. The wonderful acting performances by Chon, Vikander, and young Kowalske especially, go a long way to support this worthy drama.

Supporting performances are also strong. Vondie Curtis-Hall plays as immigration lawyer Barry Boucher who tries to help the family and Mark O’Brien plays Jesse’s biological father Ace, who develops more layers than we expect as the man who now regrets abandoning his daughter. Linh Dan Pham is touching as Parker, the cancer patient Chon meets, who introduces him to her family and a represents a different Asian immigrate experience. Emory Cohen plays Ace’s racist partner Denny, an all-round jerk, the one character who is a bit too over the top.

Despite a few flaws, this is a strong film that blends an appealing family drama and charismatic lead character with a hard-hitting message about an absurd technicality with the potential to ruin lives. Overall, BLUE BAYOU is a powerful film, filled with strong performances and delivering an important message with a punch, a drama that warrants to trip to the theater and also might be one watch come awards season.

BLUE BAYOU opens Friday, Sept. 17, in theaters.

RATING: 3.5 out of 4 stars