RICH PEOPLE WASTING MONEY
Movie Review – Crazy Rich Asians
Review by Johnny De Jesus
I should start this off by saying, I’m not a huge romcom type of guy. I feel they stick to predictable tropes, follow very similar storylines, and rarely standout from one film to the next. I’m sad to say that in the end, Crazy Rich Asians is just another romcom. I say this sadly because I really wanted it to be more than that. There were a few times it hinted that it could be, but the big draw to go for a more commercial film was just too hard to say no to.
The film follows such familiar territories as Meet the Parents or Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?. Rachel Chu, played by nicely by Constance Wu, joins her boyfriend Nick Young, played a little too nicely by Henry Golding, at a friend’s wedding to meet his parents and surprise, surprise, he just happens to be from one of the richest families in Singapore, but until now it’s never come up. That was one of the many things I wasn’t able to suspend disbelief on, in this day and age of people catfishing or lying about being married, she couldn’t Google him once or get any info about his background within the year and change they’ve been dating? Seemed unbelievable. A professor in economics might’ve heard of such a well known successful rich family, just sayin’. Everyone seems to know who he is but her.
By chance, some people who know Nick spread the word to everyone and his mother about him bringing some mystery woman to the wedding and now the stakes are set. On the first class plane ride to Singapore, things finally start to come out and we find out about Nick’s various relatives, some with more significant stories than others, but still not so much about his background. Rachel is a little thrown off by the secrets but doesn’t mind so much since he’s rich. Once in Singapore, we’re treated to a feast of traditional foods from a series of famous food vendors. I’m sure many an audience member’s stomach was growling during these scenes. They were wasted on a picky eater like me, but I appreciated the showing of culture through foods. It was also one of the few times where people weren’t speaking only English.
Rachel meets up with a university friend who’s from Singapore, Peik Lin, played by Awkwafina, who seemed to speak only in constant punch lines while trying to sound gangsta. There were probably only a couple times where she was funny but she still wasn’t as bad as Ken Jeong playing her father. Rachel spends a majority of the film having to prove to Nick’s mother, Eleanor, played wonderfully by Michelle Yeoh, that she is good enough for him. Eleanor had a compelling backstory that could’ve been fleshed out more to help the film standout but alas it was probably left in the book instead. There’s also a sidestory involving Nick’s cousin Astrid and her troubled marriage that I felt didn’t add much to the overall story, it could’ve easily been left out unless the film was rewritten to just be about Nick’s family overall.
Minus a couple little moments here and there, the film pretty much sticks with a typical romcom structure. It’s disappointing that they didn’t take more of a chance to have the film standout on its own. There were some tonal shifts that didn’t work for me so much and a lot of the jokes just fell flat. Another title for the film could’ve been Rich People Wasting Money, because it really got ridiculous at times. I couldn’t figure how they were staying so rich by the amount of money they wasted on everything. Can’t say I’m a fan of the director’s previous films at all, but as far as direction went, there were a lot of good swooping shots I suppose, and he did a good job heightening a scene full of anxiety towards the end. For the soundtrack, I thought it was noteworthy that a good amount of the songs were English songs covered in Mandarin but it made me wonder about the characters. For many of the family, things were about tradition, and even if you were Chinese but from America, you were seen as not good enough compared to the rich from Asia but at the same time, they were taking so much from English-speaking cultures, either through education or from the soundtrack being English songs, that it was a conflict that would have been an interesting conversation the characters could’ve had.
I could easily be overthinking this, I’m trying my hardest not to nitpick at everything from the film. I’m happy to see a film with a full Asian cast get released by a major studio and make a lot of money, so even if the film didn’t really work for me I’m proud of its success and hope for more films featuring Asian actors to come out more frequently.
Directed by: John M. Chu
Release Date: August 15, 2018
Run Time: 120 Minutes
Rated: PG-13
Country: USA
Distributor: Warner Brothers
I don’t see why you feel the need to criticize the movie for featuring the local delicacies. It’s not the filmmaker’s fault that your taste is not cultured. You also don’t seem to realize that this movie is the first of a trilogy. The “side story” about Astrid is to set up for the next movie, which will focus on her.
“Another title for the film could’ve been Rich People Wasting Money, because it really got ridiculous at times. I couldn’t figure how they were staying so rich by the amount of money they wasted on everything. ” That’s the whole point. Did you not understand the title of the movie? It is about people who are “not just rich, but crazy, ridiculously, filthy rich”. They are multi-billionaires, so spending millions on a wedding or a party or a pair of earrings is nothing. It’s like if you have thousands of dollars in your bank account and so does your fiance and so do your friends, cousins, aunts, uncles, parents, and grandmother, then spending a couple of dollars is nothing, it’s a meal at McDonald’s, and you wouldn’t even mind splurging hundreds of dollars on a once-in-a-lifetime event such as a wedding.