Film
Crazy Rich Asians
- Director
- Jon M. Chu
- Certificate
- 12A
- Running Time
- 121 mins
Such an unexpectedly huge US box office hit that its UK release has been brought forward by two months to cash in on all the hype, this is the first major Hollywood movie in 25 years (The Joy Luck Club, 1993) with an Asian director and predominantly Asian cast.
Given the massive amount of press attention this has received, you may be a tad surprised to find that it’s actually a featherweight, if enjoyable romcom telling a story that’s as old as them thar hills. New Yorker Rachel Chu (Constance Wu) is excited to visit Asia for the first time as she accompanies her longtime boyfriend, Nick Young (Henry Golding), to his best friend’s wedding in Singapore. But she’s also apprehensive about meeting his family. And with good reason. Turns out he’s the scion of one of the country’s wealthiest families and is consequently its most eligible bachelor. Oh, and he has a ferociously disapproving mother (Michelle Yeoh). Should you wish to engage in some chattering class debate after seeing this one, you may wish to know that it has aroused controversy for the lack of Asian ethnic diversity in its casting and for being poorly representative of Singaporean culture. The film’s defenders have pointed out that it’s a just comedy and never claimed to represent anybody.
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