The Wedding Banquet

A remake of Ang Lee's 1993 classic (in some circles!) currently in theaters which doesn't necessarily rework the premise (a gay man agrees to marry a straight woman so she can gain her papers as a means to impress his traditionalist parents) but broaden it w/more characters to middling results. Gay couple SNL's Bowen Yang & Han Gi-chan are besties w/another couple Oscar nominee Lily Gladstone & Kelly Marie Tran who are trying to have a baby but are short raising cash for some invitro sessions. What can be done? Well since G-chan's grandmother, Oscar winner Youn Yuh-jung, is coming to visit w/news to unseat him as a head of her company, the two couples decide to trick Yuh-jung into thinking G-chan is getting married to Tran (Tran will be paid so she can pay her medical bills) which sounds good but in fact turns the players' world upside down as they try to maintain their ruse which becomes a comedy of errors which'll have audiences rolling in their seats but it doesn't since by adding more characters to the mix & making the film now more gay friendly & overt (something the original didn't do since yes the characters happened to be gay but their lives didn't depend on that fact), the end product ends up being both overstuffed & underfed which when viewed through the prism of Lee's version is a shame & a slog to sit through.

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.

Having been watching movies now for roughly 70 years, I relish finding something completely different from the usual fare. And hopefully also highly entertaining. This one meets those requirements, my wife and I found it unique and highly entertaining.

Also, with so many years of watching over 200 movies a year, I have noticed many times, a movie will start very well, get a bit muddled in the middle, and then doesn't know how to wrap everything up and arrive at a meaningful ending.

This one avoids that pitfall, it ends very nicely, in a very appropriate manner for the various characters and their situations.

The basic situation is this - two couples, one a female-female and the other a male-male, are good friends. In each case there are family impediments that make it hard to be their selves and live their best lives. That is part of the struggle.

Then, one of the guys, a Korean in the states for study, may outlive his visa and may need to return home, unless ... he can get married. But his partner is not ready for marriage.

The title of this movie would not be "Wedding Banquet" if there were no wedding, but what happens is a big diversion from where it was headed.

Anyway, we watched it at home on DVD from our public library. It is thoroughly entertaining with many laughs but also many meaningful adult themes.

Watched at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.

I wasn't sure how a remake would work with And Lee's classic queer romantic comedy but color me surprise, the remake does a pretty good job on being creative from it's source material with new energy, humor, and atmosphere. Andrew Ahn is a director I have been keeping up with as his work Spa Night, Driveways and Fire Island have been pretty great and emotional engaging to observe. Here, Ahn's direction on the atmosphere, dialogue, and the character dynamics are pretty good. Being able to capture the emotions, hilarious dynamics, and some of the oddity and funny moments in both heartwarming and somewhat chaotic ways.

With a good presentation, all of the performances are great as many of the cast members are able to provide fun energy, personality and purpose to their characters. Bowen Yang particular stands out at his best. Narrative-wise, I do appreciate some new themes they were able to explore but there are some moments that felt a little uninspired with the concepts and dynamics that Ahn explores. Including how the production feels almost too fake like something from Netflix and some of the structure feels a little strange, which does make some moments a bit distracting and dragging a bit.

But overall, I didn't expect much for this remake but it was surprisingly not too bad and it went beyond the expectations.

I had all but forgotten about the original 1993 movie until after I saw this one, and watching them back to back really makes you appreciate a brilliant filmmaker like Ang Lee that comes but once in a generation.

Without comparing it to the OG, my initial thought of this remake was that I wouldn't have lasted 20 minutes if it weren't created for audiences like me (millennial, Chinese, green card, marriage, IVF). It has the premise of a romcom but without the comedy, the design of an indie drama without the raw emotional punch except in a few places, and all the insufferable qualities of contemporary mainstream filmmaking.

After watching the original, my main complaint of this film is now...there's no banquet! The OG was brimming with culture, a true banquet made to dazzle, literally and figuratively. It appears filmmaking, like banquets, has become a lost art.