The Wedding Banquet

They took a really wonderful movie (the 1993 original), and remade it as another lazy, run of the mill romantic comedy that's trying desperately to be modern and relevant.

Bowen Yang's acting performance was distractingly bad. However, Joan Chen and Lily Gladstone's acting performances were good and solid. But they couldn't save the film.

Overall, I think this one is worth skipping and will probably be forgotten about in 5 years.

I'm glad that this movie will at least bring more attention to the original, and maybe expose people to Ang Lee's earlier work which I personally think is his best.

The Wedding Banquet is a delightful, heartfelt remake of Ang Lee's 1993 classic that takes a beloved, time-honored premise and refreshes it for a new era. While the original film navigated issues of immigration, identity, and secrecy in a delicate blend of drama and comedy, this film shifts the focus toward relationships and personal growth, exploring the emotional depth of its characters with humor and sincerity.

The film's comedy, though undeniably lighthearted, works largely because the film is brisk, without sacrificing the emotional truth of the characters. The narrative unfolds at a fast pace, each twist and turn propelled by a charming, almost sitcom-like energy.

While the plot may feel predictable at times, and some of the situations bordering on farce, the direction allows the characters to shine through the chaos, striking a balance, using humor to gloss over some of the more contrived plot points, yet never losing sight of the genuine emotional moments at the film's heart.

The blend of comedy and sincerity is where the film truly excels. It never leans too heavily into one side, allowing for moments of deep emotional truth to coexist with the lighthearted absurdity of the characters' increasingly ridiculous plans. When the film slows down, the dialogue crackles with authenticity-especially during the quieter exchanges.

There is, however, a sense that the film could have pushed further into daring or edgier territory. It does not venture into particularly risky or provocative comedic waters. While this makes it a more accessible film for a broader audience, it also feels, at times, a little safe. In the era of modern streaming comedies and edgy narratives, a more bold exploration of the entanglements that ensue might have added another layer of excitement or complexity to the film.

Remember the "Proposal" (2009)? Well this is a sort of derivative of that only here it is two gay couples who decide that a bit of judicious legerdemain might enable one to get a green card and another to fund some fertility treatment. You see, commitment-phobe "Chris" (Bowen Wang) has been with his wealthy Korean boyfriend "Min" (Han Gi-Chan) for years but won't marry him. This irks his partner who also has pressures from his family at home who want to bring him home to work in the family business and marry a nice girl. Meantime, best pal "Lee" (Lily Gladstone) and girlfriend "Angela" (Kelly Marie Tran) are trying to conceive via IVF but are having no luck. It would appear that the solution to both of their problems might lie in a marriage of convenience. Far-fetched? Well the best bit is yet to come as grandma (Youn Yuh-jung) arrives from Seoul determined to find out just what is going on and to protect her grandson from what she clearly suspects is some money-grabbers. It takes her about two minutes to suss things out so now the couples have to pray that she will go along with their scheme, else everything will come crashing down. There are a few funny scenes here, but for the most part if you watch any amount of American gay cinema then you will have seen this all before. Wang offers us very little new here and the plot lurches just a bit too close to the preposterous for me as the underlying pretence of the theme goes from silly to sillier and the characterisations slip effortlessly into multifarious, sometimes quite cringeworthy, stereotypes. I do hope it takes a few quid at the box office, though, because Han Gi-chan could sure use a decent meal!

This movie disappoints in so many ways. The fact that this was called a remake, was a terrible idea. This should have not even been called that and should have just been a new movie altogether.

The trailer makes this movie seem like its a well paced comedy that is similar to the first movie, but it's pacing is slow and boring. Like the farewell, it's more heavy than light. Joan Chen, who isn't even a comic, was the funniest of all the other actors in the movie, but the was few and far between. Joan Chen, was excellent.

It's an OK movie, but definitely, not a true comedy and not a remake.

If they were the set the expectations of this movie the right way, it would have been easier to watch.

Very surprised by all the positive reviews (both critics and movie-goers) of The Wedding Banquet.

My partner and I were very much looking forward to it - but were seriously disappointed.

Various reviewers described the film as hilarious, charming, heartwarming.

We did not see that movie.

It was like spending time - too much time - with neighbors who mostly converse in therapy-speak platitudes, irony-speak chatter and in the case of one of the characters, complain incessantly about their mother.

In addition to the annoying therapy-speak dialogue, the characters were not so interesting in our opinion. Angela's character (Kelly Marie Tran) was especially churlish and unappealing - it was impossible to see why Lee (Lily Gladstone) would have been in a relationship with Angela. For different reasons, it was difficult to see why Chris and Min were together.

The few interesting and thoughtful parts of the movie, in our opinion, were the scenes of Min and his grandmother.

I recall admiring the original Wedding Banquet - will watch it again to see.