A Great Divide

I attended the Asian American International Film Festival watching a screening of A Great Divide. Jeff Yang, one of the writers and producers, was on hand with actress MeeWha Lee for a film Q&A afterwards. It looks like the movie will be available on Hulu (and possibly other streaming services) shortly. It needs to be seen far and wide. So many Asian Americans, like myself for one, can relate to the heartfelt stories of the father/ mother during their lives to get this point only to have to deal with xenophobia like never before while trying to adjust to life in Wyoming. I absolutely loved it! The actors, including Ken Jeong and Jae Suh Park, are wonderful in their roles. The cinematography is gorgeous. The story was powerful, sobering and at the same time carries a message that younger generations carry the potential for positive change. I fervently feel this well-written and relevant movie deserves Oscar noms!

I found this movie unexpected and really rewarding to watch. Yes, there were clichés but they're real life clichés, and the sum of the movie made everything fit and seem new and relevatory. I think this is due to the honesty in which the various themes and charactors stories were handled which made this movie wholly original. The performances were all amazing and the story was beautiful, gentle and real even with some of it's harsh reality.

I hope this kind of heartfelt, understated and beautiful movie starts a trend. It's what we need at this time. A movie that will help people breathe, heal and grow up.

The characters were way too passive for the intensity of the topic, I got tired feeling angry for their subservient behaviors. The mother shared a horrible experience she had as a child, then why in heavens name would you relocate to Wyoming, thereby purposely opening up your child for a similar experience. We also did not see the son in the school environment. I continued watching, because I had already invested the viewing time. I would not recommend this movie to anyone, the storyline is way too frustrating.

As a person of German and European decent, i have had the unfortunate experience of watching racism from this side of things. Which i truly detest. Every day in Texas, it rains down on people that never deserved it and im sure its everywhere. My trip to Missouri gleaned some of the same, i didnt see a person of any color than mine, in that town, until i visited St Louis. I can attest to the fact that this level of racism exists and I'm sorry that my people are downplaying reality.

As i watched, my toes and jaw clenched, the drama is there, the realism is there, and it was easy to relive the experiences I've had watching others being bullied and tricked based on being different.

As always, the male lead is a phenomenal actor, as is his partner, id love to see all 4 of them in any future movies.

You picked the perfect people to play the antagonists. Maybe it should have been set it Texas, because whew ..... does it spark some memories.

If you are a person of similar descent like mine, and you're more on the conservative side, just go watch the movies that depict you in a better light. A lack of empathy on your part does not mean your review of this movie is authentic or right.

I had mixed feelings about this movie after seeing it as part of a festival run. Perhaps I went in with too high expectations because I fit the target audience. I'll start with the positives. I thought Ken Jeong was awesome as was Jamie McShane from Wednesday and Miya Cech an up and comer from Netflix and Disney. Smart casting of some better known actors. The woman playing the grandma and the teen boy that is a local bully were both good too. A big problem for me was the portrayal of exaggerated racism that didn't feel realistic even as a person of Korean descent. The movie moved slowly at times and the story line was disjointed. Overall I liked about as much as I disliked so I'll give it 5 stars.