Krishna
I admit I have not read the book and so do not know how faithful to the book the movie is. Also, I suppose I have an ordinary man’s tastes because usually I completely agree with the popular opinion (let us say the Rotten Tomatoes rating for instance) of whether the movie is good or not.
But occasionally, I am at odds with the popular opinion and fail to see what the adulation is all about. It happened to me for Slumdog Millionaire as I hated the movie which everyone else seemed to love. It happened to me when I read the book version of The Life of Pi.
Now this movie has the same sense of puzzlement. I am scratching my head and seeing ‘Why all the hype?. Because, this movie simply does not make sense.
It is supposed to be a romantic comedy but all of it looks crazy. What it is trying to tell me is that Asians in Singapore of Chinese origin can be as ostentatious and money crazy as any westerner. They can be snobbish, they can be ‘protective of their culture’ while dancing to western songs and wearing western clothes, to all intents and purposes fully westernized while flaunting their culture.
As for actors, it is amazing how many of the stars are Malaysian – the hero Henry Golding and the mother in law, Michelle Yeoh (Yes, she of the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon fame)
And please do not underestimate their power on the basis of what you think of them in the 1950s because some of them may end up owning the hotel from which you, as a senior manager, are trying to evict them.
The biggest stuff here is how a poor Asian from America confronts the snobbish Asians, ‘fearlessly’ explaining that her mother was a single parent and brought her up doing menial jobs.
There come scene after scene of unseemly opulence, she being first surprised and then totally taking them for granted. She then ‘graciously’ turns down a proposal from her boyfriend so that ‘he will not separate him from his parents’ even though these self same parents treated her like dirt.
Even the comic relief is very western and fairly stupid with a gaudy palace like an old imperial palace with comic book characters as the comic friend’s relatives.
The story is simple. Rachel Yu, the clueless daughter of a single parent (and who on the other hand is highly accomplished professor of psychology) agrees to go to Singapore to meet her boyfriend’s family, not knowing that he is one of the richest families (“old money”) and is a highly sought after bachelor in Singapore with every unmarried girl dreaming of marrying him.
He plunges her into his world with absolutely no preparation and not even a background about anyone saying just ‘You will do fine’. Great. They find her strange. ‘You are not like us. You are an American’.
Even the happy forever, mild mannered matriarch of the family (though apparently with no powers) goes berserk when they find out that she was a bastard child.
The girl Rachel shows them up and finally gets her man. Enough said.
The movie showcases Singapore (mainly the streets and the street style food) and is a continuous depiction a la ‘Lifestyle of the Rich and Famous’ series that was so popular in the seventies(?).
Even the comedy is fully snobbish.
Really don’t see what the hype is all about. Sorry
2/10
– – Krishna (Oct 2018)