"Crazy Rich Asians"--a movie review

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Would you like to go to, or even better, have a ‘to die for’ wedding? Would you like to see a romance that is romantic and might even bring a tear or two to your eyes? Would you like to see food made and served that might even have you salivating even though you may not be familiar with all you are seeing? How about getting introduced to a new, hunky, movie leading man in his feature debut coupled up with a beautiful woman who has made a name in television? How about seeing luxury that you may never see even if you are part of the 1%? All this is offered, in the first Asian ensemble in a contemporary setting since 25 years ago, in “Crazy Rich Asians”! Oh yes, how about seeing a really wicked stepmother? Constance Wu, who you may know as the mother in “Fresh off the Boat” on television, plays Rachel, a professor of economics and Henry Golden, her boyfriend, is a New York professor who tells her that his family is comfortable. He wants her to meet his family and he uses the fact that his best friend Chris Pang, who gives Golden some competition in the looks and charisma department, is marrying Sonoya Mizuno, with Pang wanting Golden to be his best man. This is NOT a spoiler! What Henry calls comfortable is probably more than most of the audience’s wildest dreams and his family don’t hesitate to show off what they have. Hey, somebody doesn’t like the way they are being treated in a hotel just make a telephone call and buy the hotel! “Crazy Rich Asians” is being sold as a romantic comedy but there isn’t much of the latter that hasn’t been seen before. There is the wild, best friend of the leading lady, played by Awkwafino, who is seen in almost every romantic comedy played by an all American cast just as we have the gay poor relative of the family but very close to all the women played by Nico Santos and let’s not forget the obnoxious family member, Jimmy O. Yang, who takes, or tries to take, over everything. The romantic story between Wu and Golden is, more or less, another Cinderella as she was raised by a working-class single mother, Tan Kheng Hua, who ran to New York to get away from an abusive husband and he, of course, is the handsome Prince. His mother, Michelle Yeoh, who believes family comes first and that Wu is not right for her son or family. There is, in a way, a fairy grandmother, Lisa Lu, and forget the glass slipper as what you will see of opulence makes any kind of slipper needless. The core of “Crazy Rich Asians” is the romance and it delivers beautifully while a secondary romance is unnecessary though, obviously, put in for a good reason. For a comedy, you won’t hear many laughs but that is mainly because very little of it is original. “Crazy Rich Asians” is certainly worth seeing for the leads, many of the supporting players with Michelle Yeoh outstanding as one of the latter group. It is also a chance to see Singapore in its entire splendor not to mention how wealth is treated there as compared to the western world. Oh yes, that movie 25 years ago was “The Joy Luck Club” and 25 years is too long a time between that and “Crazy Rich Asians”, hopefully, the next will be a lot sooner! Movie Trailer