Crazy Rich Asians
Crazy Rich Asians is this year’s best rom-com.
Rachel (Constance Wu) accompanies her boyfriend Nick (Henry Golding) to Singapore for his best friend’s wedding. Believing Nick to be an average guy, she discovers that he is the heir to one of the richest families in Asia. Rachel must decide if her love for Nick is greater than all of the trappings that come from being in the rich and famous spotlight.
Crazy Rich Asians is an American-produced romantic comedy shot entirely in Singapore with an all-Asian cast. Budgeted at approximately $30 million, this film was deemed to be a risk because many Hollywood producers believed the all-Asian cast would not be a draw in American theaters. However, this could not be further from the truth, after two weeks at the box office, Crazy Rich Asians has remained the number one film and is on pace to make over $100 million in its domestic run.
Besides being a box office success, Crazy Rich Asians is just flat-out good. Yes, it falls into all of the the same pitfalls of a typical romantic comedy: a young couple falls in love, faces adversity, separates for a while, learns something about themselves, and then in the end they come back together and we all learn that love conquers all. Now, I have a soft spot in my heart for rom-coms and Crazy Rich Asians has landed itself right up there with the likes of Notting Hill, Love Actually, Pretty Woman, and Sleepless in Seattle.
The pacing of the film is good as it comes in right at 120 minutes, which can be a bit long for the genre but works well here. Michelle Yeoh gives a solid performance as Eleanor, Nick's mother, who does not think Rachel is a worthy partner for her son. Awkwafina steals the show as Rachel’s best friend, Peik Lin, and provides the best laughs in the movie and serves to keep Rachel grounded in reality. The film is beautifully shot and the chemistry between the two leads is solid.