What a sweet tribute to icon Bruce Lee. I saw the bonus beginning on the DVD version, in which Lee's widow narrates a little message about the movie, set against footage and photos of the real man. She correctly states that the biopic isn't just to celebrate the martial artist, the man, or the philosopher, but instead all of those attributes. I went into the movie not knowing anything about him, except that he died young and made Enter the Dragon, so I was enormously entertained and enlightened. If I'd already read some biographies or documentaries, I might have found it predictable, but every bit of information was new to me.
Jason Scott Lee (no relation) amazingly enough didn't have any martial arts training prior to the film. Instead, he was a dancer, and the studio felt his controlled movements and dedication to his body would make a great fit. After tons of training, he looked wonderful! With every step and turn of his head, you can tell he's completely aware of the muscles in his body. Lauren Holly plays his love interest, whom he meets while teaching a martial arts class at college. You'll also see Ric Young as his father, Robert Wagner as a television producer, Sterling Macer Jr. As one of his first students, Michael Learned as his standoffish mother-in-law, and Nancy Kwan as one of his first employers. Nancy worked with the real Bruce Lee in the late '60s, so her cameo is pretty cute.
With a tearjerker theme that has subsequently been used in numerous trailers, this tv biopic is undoubtedly sugarcoated. Nothing bad happens, but isn't that nice to see for a change? I really enjoyed it, and I also appreciated all the work that went into it.
