Director
Jon M. Chu

Stars
Constance Wu, Michelle Yeoh, Henry Golding, Ken Jeong and Awkwafina

In this much anticipated film adaptation of Kevin Kwan’s best-selling novel, Crazy Rich Asians is the first Hollywood film since The Joy Luck Club (in 1993) to feature an entirely Asian cast; but I can guarantee after seeing this, we won’t be waiting 25 years for another one. In an age where whitewashing is still all too common (here’s looking at you Ghost In The Shell), it’s so refreshing to see a film that doesn’t rely on a ‘white hero’ to make the film supposedly more relatable to a wider audience.

Crazy Rich Asians centres around Chinese-American Rachel Chu (Constance Wu) who is dating the handsome and enigmatic Nick Young (Henry Golding), or as I like to refer to him, ‘Asian Prince Harry’ (this tall gorgeous man with a British accent is going to have panties dropping like flies around the globe). Nick invites Rachel to attend his friend’s wedding in Singapore and meet his family, which up until this point, he has been very vague about. As soon as Rachel and Nick are ushered into the first class section of the plane on their way to Singapore, the penny drops for Rachel and she realises that Nick isn’t quite as basic as she thought.

Arriving in Singapore, Rachel soon catches up with her college friend Peik Lin, (played with scene stealing hilarity by Awkwafina) where she learns that Nick isn’t only rich, but his family is the top of the pecking order for Singapore’s haut monde and is one of the wealthiest families in the country. Given Rachel is an academic from humble beginnings, Nick’s elitist mother (Michelle Yeoh) doesn’t take kindly to her dating her son. As a result, Rachel soon gets caught up in her elaborate plan to oust Rachel from her son’s life.

It would be easy for Crazy Rich Asians to rest on its laurels of being a symbol of diversity in Hollywood. Let’s be honest, it’s going to get a lot of people going to watch it for that fact alone. But it’s not satisfied in being a film that is going to appeal to the Asian market. Instead it embraces an incredibly strong ensemble cast; Constance Wu and Henry Golding are wonderful in their lead roles, but it’s the supporting players that really make it shine. Ken Jeong, Ronny Chieng and Nico Santos bring in the laughs, and Calvin Wong’s portrayal of Peik Lin’s creepy, stalker-ish brother P.T. is both unnerving and hilarious. It’s flashy, funny and full of all the ingredients to make this a classic that will be re-watched many times by lovers of the genre.

Given the almost decade long dearth of quality ‘rom-coms’, Crazy Rich Asians gives a major boost to the genres recent (largely Netflix driven) renaissance. It’s interesting to note that that the writer and director of the film were offered massive overtures by the streaming giant, but elected to go for the riskier option of a studio production with cinema release, to ensure that this underrepresented depiction of Asian culture was seen by as wide an audience as possible. As an unashamed lover of the oft-clichéd, heartwarming rom-com, I’m very glad they followed the path they did. I’m by no means a film elitist, and have been a big fan of many of the films that Netflix have produced recently. However there is an added sense of legitimacy that’s achieved with this film’s release. All in all, Crazy Rich Asians is a win for diversity and a massive win for a genre that was seen by many to be DOA.

4 stars

Moviedoc thanks Roadshow Films for the invite to the screening of this film.

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