First-time feature director/screenwriter Alice Wu's 2005 indie comedy has familiar movie themes running all through it, but it is still an unexpected charmer with its laconic storytelling, unforced humor and a trio of winning performances. With a conflicted protagonist at its core, the film shares the same soufflé-light rom-com territory as Ol Parker's half-hearted "Imagine Me and You" and Ian Iqbal Rashid's overly cute "A Touch of Pink". Wu, however, manages to bring a less derivative style to her venture due to the unique cultural subtext and more importantly, because her script unspools the fates of the main characters in meticulous vignettes.
The plot focuses on Wil, short for Wilhelmina, an obviously talented Manhattan-based surgical resident who has kept herself closeted from her traditional Chinese family living across the East River in Flushing. Referred to just as "Ma" in the story, her mother is a widowed beautician, who only speaks Mandarin to her daughter and keeps flinging potential suitors at her. Wil's eyes, nevertheless, are set squarely on a comely ballerina named Vivian, who happens to be the daughter of Wil's supervising surgeon at the hospital. Meantime, Ma is in her own pickle as she finds herself pregnant and subsequently ejected from the family home. Ma moves in with Wil, and the inevitable consequences ensue. There are affecting moments of lightness and gravitas throughout, but much of the charm of the film comes naturally from the three leads.
As Wil, Michelle Krusiec is a terrific find, evoking the simmering turmoil of her situation in unexpected ways even when the script fails her at times. Lynn Chen is saucy and inviting as Vivian, though I wish we could have seen one scene where she dances onstage since such a strong point is made on what style she wants to pursue. Both actresses make the attraction between the characters palpable, culminating in the inevitable girl-on-girl scene. Despite the beauty of her younger co-stars, Joan Chen is almost too gorgeous to be playing such an emotionally constrained character. Even though her character is supposed to be closing in on fifty, Chen is just 43 and frankly looks ensconced in her thirties, making her the rare case of looking far younger at the end of the movie than at the beginning. Yet, she is able to convey the necessary brittle, distanced manner as Ma, making her character's self-discovery process more rewarding.
The ending is on the pat side, especially a silly multiple confessional at a wedding and a wedged-in riff on "The Graduate", but it doesn't compromise the sweet-natured charm of the piece. Special mention should go to Harlan Bosmajian's cinematography, which captures the saturated colors found in the Chinese-American community. The 2005 DVD contains Wu's thoughtful commentary on a separate track, as well as several deleted scenes, a standard, ten-minute making-of featurette and a rather dull Sundance video diary.
The plot focuses on Wil, short for Wilhelmina, an obviously talented Manhattan-based surgical resident who has kept herself closeted from her traditional Chinese family living across the East River in Flushing. Referred to just as "Ma" in the story, her mother is a widowed beautician, who only speaks Mandarin to her daughter and keeps flinging potential suitors at her. Wil's eyes, nevertheless, are set squarely on a comely ballerina named Vivian, who happens to be the daughter of Wil's supervising surgeon at the hospital. Meantime, Ma is in her own pickle as she finds herself pregnant and subsequently ejected from the family home. Ma moves in with Wil, and the inevitable consequences ensue. There are affecting moments of lightness and gravitas throughout, but much of the charm of the film comes naturally from the three leads.
As Wil, Michelle Krusiec is a terrific find, evoking the simmering turmoil of her situation in unexpected ways even when the script fails her at times. Lynn Chen is saucy and inviting as Vivian, though I wish we could have seen one scene where she dances onstage since such a strong point is made on what style she wants to pursue. Both actresses make the attraction between the characters palpable, culminating in the inevitable girl-on-girl scene. Despite the beauty of her younger co-stars, Joan Chen is almost too gorgeous to be playing such an emotionally constrained character. Even though her character is supposed to be closing in on fifty, Chen is just 43 and frankly looks ensconced in her thirties, making her the rare case of looking far younger at the end of the movie than at the beginning. Yet, she is able to convey the necessary brittle, distanced manner as Ma, making her character's self-discovery process more rewarding.
The ending is on the pat side, especially a silly multiple confessional at a wedding and a wedged-in riff on "The Graduate", but it doesn't compromise the sweet-natured charm of the piece. Special mention should go to Harlan Bosmajian's cinematography, which captures the saturated colors found in the Chinese-American community. The 2005 DVD contains Wu's thoughtful commentary on a separate track, as well as several deleted scenes, a standard, ten-minute making-of featurette and a rather dull Sundance video diary.