dir. by Jon M. Chu
written by Peter Chiarelli and Adele Lim
A lot of the conversation around Crazy Rich Asians surrounds its cast, which is comprised almost exclusively of Asian actors. And indeed, this kind of representation is rare enough that it's worth commemorating, as Asians are so often underrepresented on the silver screen. I'm not qualified to fully discuss the significance of this film's casting, but I can say that it's a very funny, well-executed rom-com which, while covering a lot of familiar territory, finds some strong emotional grounding for its luxurious aesthetic, finding pathos through the specificity of the upper-class Asian experience.
Crazy Rich Asians never really transcends itself or steps out of the predictable, but its all-out charm offensive is irresistible, even in spite of some clunkier moments. Films like this show Hollywood discovering that shifting the cultural context can give a fresh twist to its usual formulas, and this particular context provides two additional benefits: aside from the aforementioned Asian representation, it also gives the film an excuse to wallow in luxury porn and travelogue-style montages. All of that could have overwhelmed the film, but the story at its core is strong enough to overcome and even complement all those expensive trappings.
When Rachel Chu (Constance Wu) is invited by her boyfriend, Nick Young (Henry Golding), to visit his family in Singapore for his best friend's wedding, she's excited for the opportunity. However, what the New York City-born Rachel doesn't realize is that Nick is the heir to one of Singapore's most prominent Chinese business families, and once she arrives, she and Nick find their relationship strained under the weight of the family's expectations, especially those of matriarch Eleanor Young (Michelle Yeoh). Meanwhile, Astrid Young Teo (Gemma Chan) is experiencing tension in her own marriage, and Peik Lin Goh (Awkwafina) is just happy to tag along.
First and foremost, the cast assembled for the film is almost unanimously excellent, ranging from big names like Ken Jeong to the largely-unknown Golding. Akwafina is the standout, inhabiting Peik Lin's outrageous presence with with and energy, but Golding and Wu are also appealing, the former for his charming balance of class and down-to-earth humanity, and the latter for her confidence and sharp comic delivery. They have a lot of chemistry, as well, which provides charm to their earlier scenes while also giving weight to the more nuanced later scenes.
And there's a lot of humour to be gained from the Young family's decadence, as well, from the dry wit of cousin Oliver (Nico Santos) to the obscene hedonism of old schoolmate Bernard (Jimmy O. Yang). In contrast with some other critics, I found Peik Lin's family sort of a mixed bag - they can be very charming at times, but Jeong's oversized rudeness verges on obnoxious, and his character's photo-taking son is just creepy. For better and for worse, they're absent for much of the movie, as it has a large cast of characters to juggle. Many of these personalities are relatively one-note, but they never overstay their welcome, as the film often resembles a tour of the Young mansion, hopping from one scenario to the next, never neglecting an opportunity for a montage of the family's decadence.
This becomes fairly pleasant once the film sets its emotional hooks in place, but in the early going it can be somewhat numbing. In its first act, Crazy Rich Asians rushes through a bunch of plot in a rush to get to Asia, and while it's always funny - thanks in large part to a healthy dose of verbal wit - the relatively generic narrative arc doesn't provide much else of interest. Moreover, Chu doesn't have the most precise hand with these montages, often providing fairly simple shots which he quickly cuts away from. The camera doesn't reinforce the aesthetic quite as much as it could have. In this two-hour movie, however, that early malaise doesn't last long, and it picks up not long after the introduction of Yeoh's character.
That would be because the film gains much of its novelty and emotional power from its cultural context, especially in the clash between Rachel's second-generation immigrant experience and the snobbish traditionalism of the Young family. As a fish-out-of-water, Rachel serves in some ways as an audience surrogate, especially in numerous scenes where her Asian heritage isn't entirely relevant. More often, the Youngs pick her out because she's neither wealthy nor from Asia, but when her family history finally is brought to the forefront, it brings a lot of well-earned pathos with it. Similarly, Nick is forced to pick between his family and the life he wants, and his established background roots that in specificity.
That cultural clash is what makes the otherwise fairly standard emotional stakes interesting, and while it's not present in Astrid's story, the way family expectations play into her own story is interesting in its own right. What twists it provides on rom-com convention, however, are relatively small, and the large beats are mostly predictable. There's rarely any doubt that Rachel and Nick won't work out, and each character's arc is obvious from the beginning. This is a very well-executed romantic comedy, but it's not an entirely unique one. But sometimes, a fresh twist on a time-tested formula is all a movie needs, and as far as standard romantic comedies go, this is a pretty good one.
7/10
+ Gains freshness from its Asian cultural context.
+ Consistently funny, with goofy situations and a witty script.
+ Large cast is almost uniformly charming.
- First act or so is relatively bland.
- A couple running jokes don't land.
- Overarching plot is generally predictable.
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