Frankly, I've NEVER been able to understand why this movie didn't get better reviews or box office. I LOVED it! The story centers around the will of the owner of a Chinese restaurant, and is a delectable combination of cultural expose, mystery, comedy, and family angst.
What an intriguing view into the Chinese sub-culture in London - and the clash between traditional and new, one generation and another! The narrator of the tale is a young Chinese woman whose job it is to make sure that each one of the heirs does what the will requires before ANY of them can inherit. She exemplifies the cultural war within herself. She's a Chinese who doesn't speak the language, an almost-lawyer, and a warrior woman wrapped into one.
The characters are quirky and wonderful in and of themselves...AND they also all *learn* something about themselves and others during the movie. How about the wonderfully sweet old man who has lived in London for decades - illegally. He could tell you anything you wanted to know about the city, even though all he's seen are the roofs he traverses to get to work. Wait until you see what he has to do in order to get his inheritance!
Mystery pervades this film. Most of the mysteries get unraveled, at least most of the way, as the requirements of the will are brought into play. There is kind of a dissonant but satisfying harmony in how each sub-plot plays out to fit into the whole...a whole in my estimation that has something to say to all of us about what's truly important in life.
If you let the film speak to you, you will not be able to miss the irony and humor in the interplay of the family members as they do what they must to claim their inheritances. What I like is that the humor and irony are not mean spirited, but have the effect of bringing the story lines together to make this movie - in my opinion, an impactful "feel good" movie similar to, say, "The Secret of Roan Innish" or "Lone Star."
