Christine Yoo has written and directed a film that is masterful in the way it moves from comedy to romance by blending the two seamlessly. That's the good news...the bad news is that by virtue of the fact that it is a film with an Asian cast and a few subtitles thrown in, it will probably not receive the wide release and the sold out American audiences it deserves. Although it is a film about Korean culture and traditions of parents whose son is a Korean-American raised in a very different world than his immigrant parents, the comedy is ultimately about generational differences among family members, something everyone can understand. While every good film starts with a great script, without the right director and cast it can't succeed. Christine Yoo as writer/director has guided this film perfectly. Brian Tee, in the lead role of Jason, has taken on a character most would not expect. He is able to subdue his character among all the hoopla, chaos and comedy of the cast to provide that perfect balance and dramatic constant the film needs to bring it all together. Bobby Lee, Jean Yoon, Steve Park, June Kyoto Lu, Kelvin Han Yee and Joy Osmanski all provide perfect comedic timing creating truly memorable characters. This is a romantic story with so many laughs and it works so well on so many levels. For example, two wonderful parts of the film are the use of animation when explaining the history of the family "curse," and the long distance dating between Jason (Brian Tee) who is from Los Angeles in the film, and Na Young (Hye-jeong Kang) who is from Seoul. You can bet this film will be a big success in Korea and it deserves the same everywhere else including the USA.
