8/15/18

Crazy Rich Asians

Let China sleep, for when she wakes, she will shake the world. 
                                                                  Napoleon Bonaparte
Chick Flick Alert! (This is NOT a pejorative.) This movie is a treat to the eye and a chance to feel a bit of superiority because WE are not so shallow. (Mean Girls are not limited to American high schools.) It also shows us what mind-boggling wealth looks like.

Director Jon M. Chu ("Now You See Me 2"), working with a script adapted from a book of the same name by Kevin Kwan ("Rich People Problems") brings a lively, sweet story about a Professor of Economics who meets a handsome Asian man. Time passes and he wants to take her home to Singapore so she can meet his family. (He hasn't warned her that he is rich.)

Here is what I saw:
  • Astonishing architecture, Singapore has amazing bridges, unique buildings, and memorable landmarks, plus our characters enjoy scenic sojourns on nearby islands.
  • A Bachelorette party to end all Bachelorette parties. They even go shopping!
  • A Bachelor party held on a container ship (they needed the room).
  • Well-known faces (Michelle Yeoh - watch her buy a hotel when they fail to provide her with the room she reserved; Awkwafina is one of our heroine's loyal Asian friends - she's rich, too; Ken Jeong - just as rude and off-putting as ever).
  • New faces (Henry Golding - be still my heart!; Constance Wu - I haven't seen her TV show; Gamma Chan - what an elegant heartbreaker!).
  • Eternal problems - one way or another, every bride has a mother-in-law, some things never change.
  • Impossibly rich people aren't the same as you and me, but rejected would-be brides are the same the world over.
  • The most elaborately unlikely wedding ever staged.
  • Parents tell their children, "Eat your dinner. There are starving children in America!"
This PG-13 film has no gunshots, a bad word smeared on a window, hardly any vehicular mayhem (watch Akwafina drive - Oh! And she says a bad word), and sex is only implied. We see the power of social media and read a lot of text messages. Our hero's mother holds Bible studies in her posh home, flowers bloom right on cue, and mahjong is her game of choice. What a life!

I enjoyed it and scarcely needed my closed caption device.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Take a look:
* * * * * * * * * * * *