When I queued up Crazy Rich Asians (2018), Ms. Spenser thought it wasn’t like the usual fare I go for (whatever that is). But I actually love a well-done rom-com - much more than she does. She prefers horror movies, car movies and action movies where well-built guys take their shirts off. Well, who doesn’t? But, genre aside, a great movie is a great movie.
It starts with economics professor Constance Wu teaching her class how to bluff at poker, as part of a lecture on game theory (which isn’t what game theory is, at least when I learned it). Her boyfriend, Henry Golding, invites her to go to Singapore with him for his best friend’s wedding. She agrees, and plans to see her old school friend Awkwafina. Someone in the coffee shop overhears this, and starts texting the gossip around. It seems that Golding is Somebody. When they get on the plane and are given a first class sleeping cabin, Wu starts to get the idea that maybe he’s richer than she thinks.
In Singapore, they head straight for a hawker center (Singapore local color), where she meets his friend Chris Pang, and his bride-to-be, Sonoya Mizuno. Then Wu goes off to meet Awkwafina, who lives in a mansion based on Versailles, with her goofy father Ken Jeong and mother and stalkers brother. She’s a funky punk with a blonde bob wig (“Asian Ellen”) who is very impressed that Wu is dating Golding - she lives in a mansion, but is trailer trash next to his family.
Wu meets Golding’s mom later on, and it’s Michelle Yeoh. She’s formidable and polite, but clearly won’t warm to Wu, who isn’t Chinese-Chinese. Later, Wu meets Grandma, who is much warmer, but ultimately forbids Golding from seeing her. So the question is: Can two crazy kids make it together in the world of Singaporean Chinese wealth?
OK, of course, they will. But the fun is in getting there. There are some great scenes (especially involving Michelle Yeoh). There’s a scene where the whole clan gathers to make dumplings by hand, to remind them of the hard work that’s the basis of their fortune. I especially liked this because I just made potstickers from scratch for the first time.
The scenes with Awkwafina and Jeong are good old zany fun. Gemma Chan plays Golding’s cousin, beautiful, poised and, as Golding says, she has heart. And she does. Nico Santos plays gay cousin Oliver, the “rainbow sheep of the family.” And dozens more characters.
It climaxes with a mahjong game between Wu and Yeoh, bringing it back to game theory.
Two final things I enjoyed about the movie. One is that I’ve been to Singapore two or three times, and even stayed at the Carlton Hotel, where several scenes were filmed. So that was fun for me. And finally, Michelle Yeoh is amazing in this and everything.
Some people love the fact that so many Asians are cast in this mainstream movie. Some people don’t care for the ostentatious wealth on display. Some have trouble with the erasure of the non-Chinese in Singapore. Look, it’s just a movie, and a very well made and fun one.
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