Ping Pong Playa

I first saw this movie about 2 years ago and thought it was quite funny. After Linsanity earlier this year, I watched the movie again and there are some amazing parallels with Jeremy Lin's story, to the point that one would think this was written loosely about Jeremy Lin. What's more incredible is that Jeremy Lin ends up wearing a Rockets jersey, so C-Dub looks vaguely more like Jeremy Lin the second time around.

Anyone who wants to see some humor around stereotypes (both false and true) and loves Jeremy Lin's story should go see it. My family loved watching this movie the second time around and we recommend it.

Of course, Jimmy Tsai and Jessica Yu should be given a lot of credit for putting together a feel good movie that I can associate with. If anyone deserves to play Jeremy Lin in a future movie, it should be Jimmy Tsai. And, Jessica Yu, who is known for her documentaries should be able to tell the Jeremy Lin's story as good as any director.

I don't like sports movies, but this film was the compromise choice for our family, our 18-year-old son who doesn't want serious drama, my wife who doesn't want even a whiff of violence, and me who would normally watch Lars von Trier or a Russian documentary.

But the whole family found something to laugh out loud at. Parts followed the nauseatingly sweet pattern of a Disney sports movie, but other parts would NEVER have appeared in a Disney movie. Not that they were violent or inappropriate, but just off message. That made the film rewarding.

If you want to pass a few hours being mindlessly entertained, this movie is for you.

I absolutely loved this movie. I loved it for two reasons: the plot line and the overwhelming sense of stupidity. This movie reminded me of Napoleon Dynamite. It was pretty funny even though the main character is a complete tool. The racial slurs in this movie just add to the stupidity of it. Ever race has stereotypes for each other and it's good to sometimes laugh at them instead of being offended. Overall, I think this movie is pretty great. I wouldn't say this movie is for families, just because of how one of the kids acts. I would say that it's a movie more appropriate for older high schoolers and young adults. Childish and juvenile as this movie may be, the younger generation finds that kind of thing hilarious(me included).

Ping-pong Playa is very funny at times and very uncomfortable at other times. The lead Chinese-American character Christopher Wang (pronounced Wong) or C-dub is hilarious when he does his gangsta routine. He is also very "Ghetto", quite racist and all too authentic.

The plot itself is very Karate kid lite, done on a low after-school movie budget but is pleasant enough.

But most Asian, or other minorities for that matter can relate to C-dub and both laugh and cringe. The way Caucasians are depicted is over the top but does reflect some of the frustration at the old-school-tie attitudes that are still running things - even when they are trying to be benevolent. Sadly, we have all experienced those unintentional incredibly ignorant remarks from people like the tournament director. If you are from Hong Kong or one of the former British colonies then you'd know what C-dub was sayin'...

This might have been less cringe-worthy if it had gotten out of the American immigrant self-imposed apartheid ghetto mentality. But then again maybe that works better as (un)intentional irony.

Overall, not great but it did precede things like Outsourced which deal with similar themes. C-dub's rapping is very funny (as is the Cantonese hip-hop - so bad that I'm glad they didn't translate it...) and it does give insight into Asian-American attitudes and prejudices.

As a Chinese male growing up North America, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. There are very few mainstream Asian American movies produced in the US, despite the large Asian community. Often, those that are made have a great deal of stereotypes and are made by non asians. The movie validated a lot of my feelings growing up in a traditional Chinese household, yet within an American cultural environment.

I liked this movie because it played against stereotype and made fun of the stereotypes. Real life can be really cheesy sometimes, and this movie had a lot of cheese.

From the beginning, I was startled to see a Chinese face on TV actually talking like a real person in real life, and not like a trained TV personality as a news anchor. And C-dub's character just grew on me. It was real and funny. The kids are cute. His parents were like real Chinese parents. The older smart medical brother is a stereotype but played for laughs. Even Ms Chinatown didn't look like she spoke Chinese. The Chinese would slip into the English/Chinese words in the same sentence. And thats how it really is in real life. It doesn't make sense, it lacks continuity, but its real.