Crazy Rich Asians: Comedy sensation a charming laugh-fest
CRAZY Rich Asians has already burned down the box office wherever it has opened around the world. Now it is Australia’s turn to experience what the fuss is all about. READ THE REVIEW
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WITH its provocative title and a web of irresistibly tangled plot lines, Kevin Kwan’s 2013 novel Crazy Rich Asians was an instant publishing sensation.
The inevitable film adaptation wisely hasn’t gone and fixed what clearly isn’t broken and, as you may have heard, has already burned down the box office wherever it has opened around the world.
Now it is Australia’s turn to experience what the fuss is all about. Anyone who has a weakness for clever feel-good comedies, fairytale romance, high fashion, great food and/or utterly charming performances will be bowled over by how strongly this movie connects with each and every pleasure centre.
MICHELLE YEOH ON THE NEED FOR MORE DIVERSITY
WHY PEOPLE ARE EXCITED BY CRAZY RICH ASIANS
All storytelling roads intersect in a blinged-up Singapore doubling down on glitz and glamour as the city’s society wedding of the decade approaches.
As a madcap, mega-affluent array of family and friends arrive for the nuptial revelry, American-raised Rachel (Constance Wu) discovers her Singaporean boyfriend Nick (Henry Golding) belongs to the richest old-money clan in all of Southeast Asia.
The pair have been a couple for a year or so back in the States but seemingly never got around to discussing Nick’s privileged background.
Or that he just happens to be the most coveted bachelor catch on the continent. Or that Nick’s ice-queen of a mother (Michelle Yeoh) sets such a snobbily high standard for her boy’s girlfriends, Rachel might need the assistance of an oxygen tank just to engage her in a conversation.
In most movies, a character like Rachel is there to serve as a fish-out-water guide for the viewer, someone whose bafflement and amusement when things really get crazy, rich and Asian are in sync with our own.
However, there is also a fascinating undercurrent to Rachel’s presence in proceedings as an American-Chinese observer of the nouveau-riche mayhem swirling all around her.
This is very bluntly pointed out to Rachel by her old friend and new Singaporean sidekick Peik Lin (played by rapper Awkwafina, a standout in the recent Ocean’s 8, and even more so here). It is Peik Lin who reminds Rachel that her potential in-laws will always look down on her as “a banana”: yellow on the outside, white on the inside.
While Wu and Golding make for a very appealing screen couple, what really takes Crazy Rich Asians to the next level as a crowd-pleaser is how much life and laughable largesse can be detected deep into its supporting ranks.
Comedy buffs in particular should keep their radar up for killer contributions from the likes of Ken Jeong (The Hangover), Ronny Chieng (The Daily Show) and Jimmy O. Yang (Silicon Valley).
Crazy Rich Asians (PG)
Director: Jon M. Chu (Now You See Me 2)
Starring: Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh, Awkwafina, Ken Jeong, Jimmy O. Yang, Ronny Chieng.
Rating : ***1/2
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