Crazy Rich Asians
Image Credit: Warner Bros.
Simon Dillon,
19th Sep 2018
Tags:
Life
Review
Comedy
Film
Romance
'Crazy Rich Asians' is little more than a Singapore based variation on 'Cinderella', replete with additional variations on romantic comedy tropes.
However, although it is not the groundbreaking genre giant some have claimed, it is frothy, fun and diverting, and goes to one or two unexpected places.
Based on the novel by Kevin Kwan, the central couple in the story are Rachel Chu (Constance Wu) and Nick Young (Henry Golding).
They’ve been living in New York in a relationship for a year, when Nick decides it is time to take Rachel to meet his mother. What Rachel doesn’t realise is that Nick is heir to a vast fortune and practically considered royalty in Singapore. Furthermore his mother Eleanor (Michelle Yeoh) is a lot more than merely disapproving of the relationship.
This conflict between mother and potential daughter-in-law forms the central strand of the drama, but there are some good laughs along the way with side characters, including Rachel’s best friend Ah Ma (Lisa Liu) and the obligatory gay fashion expert Oliver T’sien (Nico Santos). Performances are winning and its well directed by Jon M Chu, who makes the film a colourful, vibrant experience with lavish houses, cars, wardrobes and some very tasty looking food on display too. However, this cleverly sidesteps the 'Sex and the City' pitfall of revelling in what Mark Kermode notoriously called “consumerist pornography” by providing a sense of incredulity about the superficiality of the many crazy rich Asians on display here.
For all its fantastical fairy tale gloss, the film definitely has its heart in the right place, occasionally dipping a refreshingly humane toe into more serious subjects like marital infidelity and single parents escaping an abusive partner. Best of all, the demonstration of true love as an act of sacrifice provides an almost Christian undertone at one point, which is fitting given that for all her sharp edges, Eleanor is portrayed as a Christian.
All romantic comedy boxes are ticked.
All of that makes the film sound terribly deep. It isn’t. Nor is it above criticism. For instance, I found the character of Nick a tad too-good-to-be-true, and there are a few clunky moments in the early stages. However, rest assured, all romantic comedy boxes are ticked, up to and including the inevitable but crowd-pleasing finale (which reminded me a little of Crocodile Dundee).
I don’t think 'Crazy Rich Asians' will ever make my list of greatest romantic comedies of all time, but it would certainly make a list of those that are above average.
