Domingo de Páscoa

I'm a HUGE Jo Koy fan and was really looking forward to his first feature film, but unfortunately it wasn't great. If you've never seen Jo's stand up act, you will likely enjoy this film a bit more since many of the jokes in the movie are recycled from his shows. The supporting cast was good, with a great cameo by Lou Diamond Phillips, but I only really chuckled a few times. The script was predictable, the story forced, and some of the jokes felt like they were added at the last minute to fill in time. 4 stars for the supporting cast and the few giggles, but I wanted at least one big belly laugh like I get watching Jo Koy perform his stand up.

I wish I liked this more.

Felt sloshing around in the first half. Too many stories going on. I kinda didn't know what the movie was about. Second half and third act were better. The movie is about bringing family together and people finding themselves. It succeeded and will bring tears of joy to your eyes.

I've known of Koy for about a decade, so when I saw him starring in a film loosely based on his life, I knew I had to check it out. Boy, this was just flat for me because it didn't make me laugh much at all. I love Eugene from Tacoma FD and Yang from Silicon Valley. I thought there'd be jokes a minute but no the exact opposite. I also didn't care for the fact they made Eugene's character so foolish. No one in real life would ever give that man a large sum of money. I thought the bad guys weren't that threatening excluding the firearms they possessed and seemed out of place in this movie. I guess I just expected a different film from the one we were given. Everyone was enjoyable hopefully any future projects will be better.

Greetings again from the darkness. Director Jay Chandrasekhar and co-writers Kate Angelo and Ken Cheng have crafted a tribute to the Filipino community, paying homage to family bonds and the culture. The obvious comparisons here are CRAZY RICH ASIANS (2018) and any number of Bollywood movies offering insight and a peek behind the curtain of Indian families. As global societies continue to disburse and intertwine with various races and cultures, it only makes sense for us to gain more understanding of each other ... and what better way than through comedy?

In the film, real life comedian Jo Koy plays fictional comedian and aspiring actor Joe Valencia. Joe moved to Los Angeles, away from his Bay area family, to pursue a career in entertainment. It's been a struggle, and he's best known for a beer commercial where he looks into the camera and says, "Let's get this party started, bayBee!" One of the recurring gags is how so many either recite the line to him, or plea with him to do so. Up for a big role in a TV pilot, Joe once again lets down his high school aged son, by attending an audition rather than a parent meeting at school. Junior (Brandon Wardell) is struggling a bit with his grades at the prestigious prep school he attends. See, Joe's career as an actor might not be rolling, but his ex-wife is a powerful attorney married to a professional athlete.

The real fun begins as we see the tension between father and son on the road trip they make to join the rest of the family for Easter Sunday ... an important day for Filipinos. Along the way, we experience two more of the film's running gags: Joe's mom (Lydia Gaston) pressuring him not just to show up, but to not be late, and Joe's agent (played by director Chandrasekhar), whose use of 'entering a tunnel, so I'll be losing the connection' is his standard way of ending a conversation when he's done. Once they arrive, we get yet another running gag - the ongoing sister rivalry between Joe's mom and his Tita Theresa (Tia Carrere). It's a quick trip for Joe and Junior, but it's filled with family drama, Joe's impromptu stand-up in church, a love interest for Junior (Eva Noblezada), a run-in with a former lover (Tiffany Haddish) for Joe, a questionable business investment between Joe and his cousin Eugene (Eugene Cordero), a confrontation with a local gangster named Dev Deluxe (Asif Ali), and an all-in family karaoke song. There is even a Lou Diamond Phillips tie-in that adds a touch of class.

The writers and director have worked mostly in TV to this point, and that is just too obvious. A TV sitcom style rarely succeeds on the big screen, and though we do get some laughs, there is an amateurish feel to the proceedings. On the upside, some insight into Filipino culture is welcome, I now know Manny Pacquaio's birthday, and it was my first exposure to "Hype Truck!" Opens in theaters on August 5, 2022.

I love Jo Koy. His stand up is very funny. His storytelling is great. His tales of family and growing up and achieving success as a Filipino-American are very endearing. This movie contains many of the best elements of his storytelling and it is fun to see him playing a version of himself. His family is very memorable if you have seen his stand up. This film's stand up moments are the best. The Church scene is best part of the movie. The weakness is that the movie has been sanitized for family viewing. It is the Filipino version of My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Heartfelt. Warm and funny. Not the best but good.