It’s been 25 years since a film telling a contemporary story
centered on an all-Asian cast was released by a major Hollywood studio (the
last one was “The Joy Luck Club” back in 1993). This makes “Crazy Rich Asians”
not just a major achievement in on-screen diversity but — thanks to its
excellent ensemble cast and charming script — a breath of fresh air in the
familiar romantic-comedy genre.
Based on
Kevin Kwan’s best-selling novel, “Crazy Rich Asians” is a glossy, big-budget
romance that gets an additional kick thanks to the cultural specificity baked
into its story, married to universal themes of love, class, money, family, and
tradition.
As the film
begins, Chinese-American economics professor Rachel (Constance Wu) and her
handsome long-term boyfriend Nick (the impossibly dashing Henry Golding — a
television host for the BBC, making his acting debut) are planning to travel to
his hometown of Singapore to attend his best friend’s wedding and finally
introduce Rachel to his family.
But it turns
out Nick has been less than forthright about his background, and Rachel learns
that he’s the favorite son of one of Singapore’s most extraordinarily wealthy
families — he’s practically royalty back home. “We’re comfortable,” he says
when prodded about his family’s financial situation, a statement Rachel points
out is as sure a sign as any that his folks are loaded.
As they
arrive in Singapore, the film becomes a fish-out-of-water story. Rachel, who
was raised by her working-class single mother (Tan Kheng
Hua), learns to navigate Singaporean high society, faces down jealous
ex-girlfriends, and tries to get on the good side of Nick’s icy mother, Eleanor
(the magnificent Michelle Yeoh).
The script,
written by Adele Lim and Peter Chiarelli, breathes life into some of the more
familiar tropes of the genre, rooting the film’s central conflict in the
complex relationship between Asian and Asian-American cultures. It also makes
parental relationships key, earning some genuine emotion not only from Rachel
and Henry’s swoon-worthy relationship, but also through Rachel’s growing
appreciation of her own journey, shaped by her and her mother’s experiences as
first- and second-generation immigrants.
The film’s
messages about wealth are admittedly somewhat muddled, encouraging us to revel
in the extravagance of its characters’ world, while simultaneously suggesting
there’s something rotten at its core. But at its heart the film is a
Cinderella-esque fairy tale.
Director Jon
M. Chu has a wonderful feel for movement (evident in previous films like “Step Up 2: The Streets”), giving the film a bright and breezy
energy. It’s also a feast for the eyes, with playful costuming and production
design (it’s not hard to imagine this film being adapted into a splashy
Broadway musical somewhere down the line). The film boasts one of the most
breathtakingly beautiful wedding sequences I’ve ever seen on screen, not to
mention some mouthwatering food porn, including an emotionally-fraught
dumpling-making lesson and a lively trip to one of Singapore’s night markets.
Like “Black
Panther” and “Love, Simon” earlier this year, “Crazy Rich Asians” is a
breakthrough for on-screen representation, and a reminder of just how sad it is
that in 2018 we’re still so in need of these milestones. But like those other
films, this shouldn’t be considered the endpoint of diversity on the silver
screen. Told with plenty of heart, humor, and style,”Crazy Rich Asians” offers a glamorous romantic
fantasy that’s as universally crowd-pleasing as they come.
This article appears in Aug 15-21, 2018.
