Rich guy and not-so-rich girl fall in love and encounter obstacles including but not limited to: unwelcoming family members, elitism, classist assumptions, and that douchebag everyone hates. Let's be honest, we've all seen some iteration of that story. Some may say they liked it better when it was called Pride and Prejudice or Cinderella. The point is: Crazy Rich Asians is nowhere near crazy where the storytelling is concerned.
Don't get me wrong, romantic comedies work partially because of the paradigm and because of the familiar situations the characters get put into. They're like coming home after an 8-hour shift at the office and seeing your cat mark the shoe-rack for the umpteenth time. You've grown accustomed to it. Memorable romcoms, however, have distinct characters that you remember long after the movie has ended.
Crazy Rich Asian doesn't even have that.
Take Nicholas Young (Henry Golding), for example. He's an intelligent dude. He was born into a rich, elitist family, but he's nothing like his family. Rather than a snob, Nick has become an all-around good egg, a nice dude who is head over heels in love with his girlfriend and wants the relationship to go to the next level. His defining qualities are his billion dollar smile and a heart of gold.
Those traits don't sound overly unique.
Rachel Chu (Constance Wu) has a little more substance to work with, but even she is bogged down by certain genre tropes. When it's all said and done, she's the hardworking girl with the gumption and the fight to prove to her boyfriend's family that she is more than good enough for their son.
Both characters' traits point to a common theme in romantic comedies -- the leads are usually the least interesting people. The entertainment comes from the surroundings, the situation, and the colorful supporting cast. That's what happens here.
Jon Chu sets up lavish sequence after lavish sequence. He takes us from the night market to an upscale hotel to McMansions to a private island and to that douchebag shooting a bazooka off a ship into the ocean. The pacing is quick. The movie doesn't get bogged down by explaining the details behind everything in the family dynamic.
Michelle Yeoh, primarily known for her work in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and other martial arts films, puts in the strongest performance as Nick's traditionalist mother. She provides a necessary counterbalance to the laid-back ease and open-mindedness of other members of her family and has just enough nuance to keep the character from falling into the hard-line generic Chinese mother role. Gemma Chan, as Nick's cousin and his and Rachel's confidant, also adds poise to the screen.
For the off-beat and quirky stuff, Awkwafina and Ken Jeong and the cousin who is always concerned with "optimal angles" have you covered. Like anything in that brand of humor, it can be an acquired taste and is often hit-and-miss.
It's pretty clear that Crazy Rich Asians isn't pushing any storytelling envelopes. It's slick, it's efficient and adequate entertainment.
Asian leads and Asian faces, however, make the movie an outlier. Seldom does Hollywood give Westernized Asian actors a chance to be the romantic heroes. The project is a major step forward for Asian representation in Hollywood. That is this movie's primary value. Its success will open doors for more movies, and most certainly, better ones.
If this leads to Hotel On the Corner of Bitter and Sweet (do yourself a favor and read the book) finally getting the green light, an Asian-led live-action version of Your Name, and adaptations of Native Speaker, Chinglish, and other purely original projects (maybe one of mine lol), then Crazy Rich Asians will have done its job.
(P.S The book is 300% better than the movie.)
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