This is the big one. The first contemporary studio film with a fully Asian and Asian-American cast in twenty-five years. The film that's aiming to prove that Asians can be leading men and women, capable of generating plenty of heat at the box office. The film that's made an instant star out of Henry Golding, and boosted the profiles of several other actors, including Constance Wu and Awkwafina. The publicity blitz and the support from the Asian-American community have been a wonderfully encouraging thing to witness. Clearly, the film has been a rousing success in all the ways that matter to Hollywood and all the talent involved.
So, I'd have been supportive of "Crazy Rich Asians" solely out of Asian-American solidarity, but it's nice that the film is actually pretty good. What's gotten a little lost in the midst of all the fuss is that it is an unusually successful romantic-comedy at a time when romantic-comedies have lost some luster. Constance Wu plays an NYU professor, Rachel Chu, who is being courted by a Singaporean native, Nick Young (Henry Golding), and he wants to take her home to meet his family. It's soon revealed that Nick is the scion of the powerful and immensely wealthy Young family, who are real estate moguls in Singapore. Rachel has to contend with jealous exes, gossipy socialites, and Nick's disapproving mother, Eleanor (Michelle Yeoh), while attending a lavish event wedding.
Recent romantic comedies have been struggling to modernize, to embrace modern relationships and relationship problems. "Crazy Rich Asians" takes the opposite tack and is actually quite old fashioned in construction. Class differences, difficult families, and the obligations of being upper crust separate our lovebirds, and they prove to be considerable obstacles. There's also the added wrinkle of Rachel being an Asian-American, whose independence clashes with the more traditional Chinese values of filial piety represented by Eleanor. Setting the film in Singapore also puts it in a very distinct cultural context, one that I was mostly unfamiliar with. Like Rachel, I'm Chinese-American, and recognized a lot of the more general customs and language tics. The Singaporean social scene and class distinctions, however, were completely foreign to me. Rachel has a college gal-pal, for instance, named Peik Lin (Awkwafina), who is part of the nouveau riche, and her lovably gaudy family is the source of a lot of comic relief.
Understandably, there's a lot of hand-holding here for non-Asian audience members. Nearly all the younger members of the cast speak with British or American accents, and Western indicators of wealth, like high end fashion and sports cars, are everywhere. However, director John Chu and company prove very committed to putting as much Asian culture onscreen as possible. Rachel is taken on a whirlwind tour of Singapore - food stalls, tropical beaches, and tons of stunning real estate. Even the bustling airport gets compliments. We also sit in on dumpling wrapping sessions, tan hua viewing parties, and a very intense game of mahjong. John Chu is at his best when he's orchestrating spectacle, and the big wedding between Nick's best friend Colin (Chris Pang) and his fiancee Araminta (Sonoya Mizuno) presents plenty of opportunity for memorable, colorful visuals. The wedding ceremony in particular is over the top in the best way.
When you take away all the glitz, however, "Crazy Rich Asians" struck me as a lot of good pieces of a film that are a little haphazardly assembled. Michelle Yeoh is great. Awkwafina is great. I loved the "rainbow sheep" of the family, Oliver, played by Nico Santos. However, as much as I like Wu and Golding as performers, their characters never stop being a little flat, and their relationship is very bland and generic. You can tell there was a lot cut out from the book (which I haven't read), in an effort to make it more accessible. There's also a subplot with Nick's cousin Astrid (Gemma Chan) and her marriage troubles that feels awfully tacked on. Everything is executed with plenty of enthusiasm and care, but occasionally you have an awkward scene, like Rachel and NIck regrouping after the bachelorette party, that lands with a thud.
Ultimately, my complaints are pretty minor, and made with the expectation that John Chu and his team will have the opportunity to do better the next time around. I expect a "Crazy Rich Asian New Year" is just around the corner, and hope that we'll get to see even more Asian talent take center stage. The movie may be a little frothy for my tastes, but I recognize it's an important stepping stone to better things.
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