A life well examined means constantly challenging our
assumptions. In that spirit, I confess to having had no interest in seeing John
M. Chu’s film, “Crazy Rich Asians.” Most romantic-comedies are terrible and, besides,
I wanted no part in helping perpetuate what I thought would be ugly, seriously
wrong and typically Hollywood stereotypes.
Enter Chef David Chang. He shared my concerns, in a particularly
acute manner given his Korean-American heritage. He said on his November 29th
podcast with Chu, however, that “I watched the movie and all of my ignorance
and all of my bias was wrong.” Me too. “I was completely moved by the movie,” he
added. Yes, me too.
I was also leery of the idea of the film because some of Chu’s
previous efforts included illustrious entries such as “G.I. Joe Retaliation”
(2013) and various Justin Bieber movies, though his “Now You See Me 2” (2016)
wasn’t horrible. Well, I’m sure they made a great deal of money, anyway.
NetFlix originally wanted the project, which was based on the
fabulously successful, New York Times
bestseller “Crazy Rich Asians” book trilogy by Kevin Kwan. Chu and his
producers chose to partner with Warner Brothers, however, to emphasize that so-called
Asian-American studio movies are commercially viable. Viable? I’ll say. The
film’s worldwide gross is $220 million so far on a reported budget of $30 million
and it’s the sixth highest-performing rom-com in Hollywood history.
More importantly, it’s a good movie. Yes, it could be a silly romp,
but the characters and the actors portraying them are complex and absolutely
delightful. You relate to them. There is an appealing blend of serious,
heartfelt drama and no shortage of comedy to leaven it, especially from the
hilarious Awkwafina who steals the show.
Constance Wu was terrific as the NYU economics professor who
travels to Singapore with her boyfriend to meet his family and, in the process, experiences the antipathy and even hatred some Chinese or traditional Singaporean-Chinese have for
Chinese-Americans. Her boyfriend is played by the amazing Henry Golding who was
a TV travel host without any previous acting experience. His natural, effortless
charm is exquisite.
It doesn’t take too much effort to sniff out quality, if you’re
willing to give it a try. Sometimes we need guides such as David Chang to help
us get there, which is its own kind of leadership.
Image courtesy of East West Bank.