The Farewell

First Hit: Wonderful story about how this Chinese family deals with a prognosis of death.

I cannot tell you that it’s factually correct that Chinese families often do not mention one of their older members that they have cancer and are going to soon die. The reason for not telling is to let them enjoy the time they have left without worry. If it is true, it’s understandable and if not, it might be worth exploring as a way to deal with such a prognosis.

In this film, we are introduced to Billi (Awkwafina) who lives in New York City talking on the phone with her grandmother Nai Nai (Shuzhen Zhao) who lives in China. We learn that Billi was born in China but left when her parents, Haiyan and Jian (Tzi Ma and Diana Lin respectively), went to explore an opportunity in the United States. She was two years old.

The film does a great job of showing the audience their closeness.

Nai Nai has cancer, but she doesn’t know it. She believes she still has a bad cough from an early bout with pneumonia. Nai Nai’s grandson Haohao (Han Chen), from Nai Nai’s other son Haibin (Jiang Yongbo), has announced a wedding to Aiko (Aoi Mizuhara) after only dating her for three months.

It is unsaid but understood, that the reason for the wedding is that Nai Nai will be dead soon and it would be joyous for her if she got to host this one great event before she dies. Nai Nai is shown happily planning the event.

Under the guise of this wedding, everyone is traveling to China to partake in the celebration. What Nai Nai doesn’t know is that they are also coming to say goodbye to her.

It is recommended by Billi’s parents that she not come because they fear she will tell Nai Nai the truth about her illness. Billi decides to go anyway, and because she’s the main character, we go with her.

This Chinese family’s situation and dynamics are explored as are other Chinese traditions. The dialogue is smart and often in Chinese, so the audience has to read subtitles on the screen. It is kept within the confines of when Nai Nai is in conversation because she doesn’t understand or speak English and actually adds to the flavor of the film.

The preparations for the wedding have some funny moments like when Nai Nai tries to understand why the chef has changed the lobster meal to ta crab meal. I also loved how Nai Nai teaches Billi how to do morning exercises.

The scenes in China are durable and reflective of life in some parts of China today. I thought the way the film allowed each of the characters to express their impending grief and current love for Nai Nai to be lovely.

Awkwafina was excellent as Billi. Generally known as a comedian, she handles this serious role with studied excellence. Ma and Lin were as wonderful as Billi’s parents. The dialogue between Billie and her mother in the car about expressing emotions was particularly touching and pointed. Zhao was sublime as the matriarch grandmother. Chen, as the groom to be, was very effective at showing a certain reticence and honor for the actions he was about to participate in. Lulu Wang wrote and directed this film and showed she had a deft touch for creating a realistic storyline.

Overall: I like this film, and it did remind me of some of the behavior and language inflections of Chinese families I’ve known.

Rich Crazy Asians

First Hit: There are some very funny bits in this revealing film about Crazy Rich Asians.

Having dated a number of Asian women, I’ve experienced some of the familial ties as represented in this film. The closeness, nepotism, and sacrifice in business and family situations is difficult to fully comprehend by an outsider. The cultural differences are part of this film’s attraction. Adding social and financial differences within the Asian community only adds to the insight and delight.

The film sets up the Young family as wealthy and ruthless in the first scene. It opens with a young Eleanor Young (Michelle Yeoh) entering a swanky hotel with her two young children (Nick and Astrid) and her mother. They have reservations for the biggest and best suite in the luxurious hotel. However, because they walked in wet from a pouring rain and the kids had muddy feet, the snooty desk staff felt they weren’t really the type of people they wanted in the hotel. Refusing them their reserved room, and suggesting a room in Chinatown, Eleanor calls her husband who immediately buys the hotel. Walking back into the lobby, the current owner pops out the elevator and tells the staff that the hotel is now owned by the Youngs. The now sufficiently humbled staff get them checked into the hotel immediately.

This is a wonderful setup to show racism, the power of money, and how family ties can make something work.

The film moves forward in time about 25 years and we meet Rachel Chu (Constance Wu), a gaming theory economics professor, teaching her class about confidence through a poker demonstration she had in class. Rachel was raised by her single mother Kerri (Kheng Hua Tan) who worked multiple jobs to sacrifice her life for her child’s education and wellbeing.

Rachel’s boyfriend is Nick Young (Henry Golding) who was the young boy in the opening hotel sequence and who went to school with Rachel and hasn’t told her about his family’s wealth which has now blossomed to be the wealthiest family in all of Asia.

Nick wants to bring Rachel home to meet his family while he serves as best man for his best friend’s wedding. The wedding is in his home country of Singapore. What makes this an easy decision for Rachel to join him is that her best friend from college, Peik Lin Goh (Awkwafina), lives in Singapore and Rachel will get to visit her.

Getting on the plane, Rachel expects to eat what her mother packed for snacks and sitt in the crowded economy section. However, Nick and her are ushered to a private first class room at the front of the plane and this is when he explains to Rachel his family is wealthy.

The rest of the film shows an overindulgence of rich Asian families. For instance, Peik, who comes from a wealthy family of her own, drives Rachel to the Young family compound in a Audi R8 sports car. Remaining outings in cars feature Bentley and Rolls Royce cars. The parties are over the top extravagant and beyond the means of 99% of the population, including the bachelor party where everyone is flown out to a huge container ship, tricked out as a huge disco, in helicopters. The maid of honor party is the take over of an entire island and it's resort facilities where they shop, get massages, and party.

The heart of the family rejection of Rachel is Nick's mom Eleanor who doesn’t think Rachel is good enough for her boy, although Eleanor’s mother Ah Ma (Lisa Lu) likes her and her “auspicious nose.” Many of Eleanor’s friends participate in the hating of Rachel, and that is only part of the problem. There are many girls in Singapore that want to be hooked up with the very eligible and rich Nick, so most of young girls despise Rachel as well and think she is just a gold digger.

With these plot devices, the story is filled with comic opportunities and the director takes advantage of this. The romantic part of the film is a test of Nick and Rachel’s love for each other along with Rachel’s ability to own her power.

Wu was wonderful as Rachel. She showed the right kind of strength of character to make this role work. Awkwafina was hilarious as Rachel’s best friend. I loved how she kept specific outfits in her car for all occasions. Golding was strong as Nick. He embodied humbleness and his position of wealth is an elegantly. Yeoh was outstanding as Nick’s protective mother. Some of her steely looks were perfect. A priceless scene was when she and Rachel played a round of Mahjong. The intensity and pointed dialogue was executed by both Wu and Yeoh was spot on. Tan was great as Rachel's mom. Lu was wonderful as the matriarch of the family. Peter Chiarelli and Adele Lim wrote a poignant and culturally pointed screenplay. Jon M. Chu did a wonderful job of keeping the film both light hearted and well intentioned through all the scenes.

Overall: This somewhat tongue-in-cheek film has some great comedic and heartfelt moments.

Ocean's 8

First Hit: Lackluster plot, poor direction, and mediocre acting make this film barely worth watching.

The original 1960 Ocean’s 11 film with Sammy, Frank, Dean, Joey et al, wasn’t a great film, but seeing these musical and comic icons together in one film in the early Las Vegas days was fun mainly because of who the actors were outside of the characters they played.

When a re-boot of the Ocean’s series came along starting in 2001 with Clooney, Pitt, Damon, Roberts, and others, we were treated with an irreverent kind of attitude that made the story fun.

With hope, I looked forward to seeing some of the best female actors in the world come together in a story and script worthy of their talent. However, I left the theater thinking, what happened. This film barely gets across the finish line.

Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock) is the sister of now deceased Danny Ocean (who was played by George Clooney). First question does this mean Clooney cannot play Danny anymore?

The opening scenes show Debbie in a parole hearing having served five-+ years of a longer prison sentence. She was double-crossed by her, at that time, lover and art dealer Claude Becker (Richard Armitage) for faking art purchases of fake art. What is troubling about this opening scene is that Debbie is so good looking, clean and made up there’s no believability that she’d been in prison for five years. The story just doesn’t ring true from the beginning.

Seeking to make money and take revenge, Debbie gets close friend Lou (Cate Blanchett) to help her put a crew together to steal the Toussaint necklace worth $150,000,000 at a gala at the Met in New York City. Finding the crew was done is a flippant manner and only the recruiting of Constance (Awkwafina) as a thief and Nine Ball (Rihanna) held my interest.

To get the Toussaint to the Met, they hire a quirky fading dress designer Rose Weil (Helena Bonham Carter) to request that Daphne Kluger (Anne Hathaway) a top celebrity wear the Toussaint to the Met. This part of the story is a reach in the way it was told, however Hathaway was a blast to watch.

There is more to the story and let’s just say that revenge and the theft of the Toussaint aren’t all that happens during the big theft scene but by that time, who really cares?

Bullock was OK. She didn’t look anything like a prisoner and from that opening scene it’s a push to make her believable. I did enjoy her shopping spree right after she gets out of prison. Blanchett was wasted in this small, supportive role. Hathaway was the best part of this film. I loved her celebrity attitude and then, when she’s cut in for the loot, her looks are perfect. Mindy Kaling, as jewelry cutter Amita was OK. Nothing to write home about. Sarah Paulson as Tammy the fence, was funny. The tour of her garage was hilarious. Awkwafina was one of the better aspects of this film. She captured the screen with her intensity. Rihanna as Nine Ball the computer genius of the thieves, was very good and one of the better characters and parts in this film. Carter was oddly the same character she’s been in most all her latest films, quirky. Gary Ross and Olivia Milch wrote this milquetoast script with little character development and a non-palpable reason for the heist. Ross did not elevate his and Milch's  mediocre story and in the end, it felt lifeless.

Overall: This film will fall to the bottom when people rate the Oceans’ series of films.