Crazy Rich Asians takes rom-com for a luxury ride

Movie review: Crazy Rich Asians

Jon M. Chu’s adaptation of the Kevin Kwan bestseller proves money trumps ethnicity and genre is universal as we watch a Romeo and Juliet romance unravel in the middle of Singapore.

Crazy Rich Asians

3.5/5

Starring: Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh, Gemma Chan, Lisa Lu, Awkwafina
Directed by: Jon M. Chu

Running time: 2 hrs

Rating: PG-13

By Katherine Monk

The central irony in Crazy Rich Asians isn’t that it’s so much about Asians, it’s more about crazy rich people — at which point ethnicity is really just a sub-category, an identifying accessory, a marketing niche.

So don’t be surprised by how much you might like this romantic comedy with an all-Asian cast, because as it turns out, crazily enough, crazy rich Asians are a lot like everyone else. So this rom-com Romeo and Juliet story based on Kevin Kwan’s bestseller functions like every other big-budget family entertainment you’ve come to love over the years, complete with a parade of pretty dresses and a wedding.

The central irony in Crazy Rich Asians isn’t that it’s so much about Asians, it’s more about crazy rich people — at which point ethnicity is really just a sub-category, an identifying accessory, a marketing niche.

The beautiful couple swirling through the vortex of love is Rachel (Constance Wu) and Nick (Henry Golding), young professionals living in New York and doing well. Rachel is the youngest member of the economics faculty at NYU, and Henry is figuring out his next steps when they’re called back to Henry’s home in Singapore for his best friend’s wedding.

It’s only once they’re on the plane, and seated in first class, that Rachel starts to ask some questions about Nick’s family. After months co-habitating and sharing a Netflix account, Rachel learns Nick’s family is “comfortable” — which she immediately recognizes as rich.

Turns out, Nick Young isn’t just from a wealthy family, he’s from old money — one of the founding families in Asia, and the most eligible bachelor in the orient. Rachel has no idea what awaits once they land, but anyone who’s attended a bridesmaid party will immediately recognize the snake pit she’s about to enter.

Every woman wants to tear a chunk off Rachel because she bagged the big prize — but no one more than Nick’s mom (Michelle Yeoh), a conservative power matron who believes no one is good enough for the special son.

Yeoh is perfect as the iron lotus lady — a stern faced and stoic elegance covered in embroidered silk. Her fabric refuses to run. She shimmers in every scene, even when she’s being completely mean.

We need the conflict, but it’s all predictable panic as Rachel is peeled back to her base layers, and forced to acknowledge her humble roots as the child of a single Chinese mother who couldn’t speak English when she moved to the U.S.

Of course we love Rachel, and it’s impossible not to crush on Henry Golding, who looks like the Asian version of JFK. Throw Awkwafina in there as the “Asian Ellen Degeneres” and you have everything a successful rom-com needs — chemistry and comic relief.

The Asian part of the movie is really just a product of the backdrop and the cast, a handful of Mandarin scenes and a travelogue of Singapore’s ritziest locales. It’s like turning back the hands of time to the 1980s, when it was white people doing to the conspicuous consuming and wearing brands like badges.

The Asian part of the movie is really just a product of the backdrop and the cast — a handful of Mandarin scenes and a travelogue of Singapore’s ritziest locales. It’s like turning back the hands of time to the 1980s, when it was white people doing to the conspicuous consuming and wearing brands like badges.

We’re fascinated by wealth. We want to know what it’s like on the so-called greener side of the private golf course, where you’re always invited past the red velvet rope and into the VIP room. We think things are going to be better there, but as Crazy Rich Asians proves once more, money can get you into a fancy party, but it can’t buy you true love. It can’t hold you at night and tell you you’re worthy. If anything, it usually does the exact opposite because having more than those around you tends to engender feelings of doubt, and in turn, denial.

Wealth is a generic state that crosses all racial, ethnic and religious boundaries. What’s truly surprising is that it’s also pretty dull, despite the pretty decorations and exotic locales at one’s disposal. After all, shopping is shopping. Real estate is real estate. Cars are cars, and you can only drive one at a time.

As a result, Crazy Rich Asians may look a little different, but it affirms the same familiar morals and family truths. True love transcends money, class and race. And so it seems, does Hollywood genre, suggesting American-made formula is a lot more progressive than we imagined — providing people are willing to take a chance on change.

Hats off to the gambling spirit of producer Nina Jacobsen, who knocks down another showbiz barrier by emphasizing humanity, and our collective truths, instead of baiting difference.

@katherinemonk

THE EX-PRESS, August 17, 2018

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Review: Crazy Rich Asians

User Rating

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Summary

3.5Score

Jon M. Chu’s adaptation of the Kevin Kwan bestseller proves money trumps ethnicity and genre is universal as we watch a Romeo and Juliet romance unravel in the middle of Singapore. - Katherine Monk

2 Replies to "Crazy Rich Asians takes rom-com for a luxury ride"

  • G August 26, 2018 (1:33 pm)

    I think presumptuous to say it’s a marketing niche because it was written from perspective of Asians. I can tell you it is not, because it was written by an Asian with the perspective of the Asian/Asian-American experience. I bet you didn’t understand the depth of the mahjong scene, under how common the banana reference is in the community, see how the cultural differences noted about Asian-American vs. Asians spoke to those of the community. There were so many references and it wasn’t explained because it just written for the people. It almost assumes one just understands the perspective. If it was a marketing niche it would have over explained everything for your consumption. It was written for everyone by an Asian with a story to tell that definitely came from an Asian experience/perspective, not the drive to exploit a marketing niche. It might be presumptuous of me to say, but maybe your privilege/ignorance led you to make that statement since it wasn’t written to your perspective/experiences? Are things all things that don’t qualify as your experience a marketing niche?

    • EX-PRESS EDITOR September 1, 2018 (1:00 pm)

      Thanks so much for reading Katherine Monk’s review. We appreciate your comments. Best regards, The Ex-Press. ps. Katherine would like you to know she speaks Mandarin, lives in Vancouver and did get all the references you assumed she didn’t. Her point was wealth transforms the unique into the generic.

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