What it's like: An exuberant and inventive rom-com among the wealthy set of Singapore.
Plot: Chinese-American New Yorker Rachel Wu has been dating Singaporean Nick Young for over a year, and he invites her to visit Singapore to meet his family. What she doesn’t realise is that his family is very rich indeed, and this causes all sorts of unforeseen complications in their relationship.
Promotional line: ‘The only thing crazier than love is family’
Reception: Public and critics are loving it. It’s been called ‘a reinvention of the rom-com’
Review:
Really excellent, high-energy, colourful, engaging.
A very different spin of the rom-com formula. Firstly, it documents a happy dating couple who hit some tricky waters (in contrast to many classic rom-coms about couples struggling to get together and then being happy). It goes on to explore serious themes of differences in class, culture and values and their consequences. Secondly, it sees wealth as a problem in a relationship, rather than a positive (another couple in the film is also finding it a problem).
In a sense, it’s a Cinderella story of an ordinary young woman with a rich prince, but with the issues explored in more depth than the usual fairy-tale or rom-com – as if Cinderella said to the prince ‘now, we need to talk about how this is going to work’.
It is also good quality drama, with key facts gradually revealed throughout the film, creating a sense that the full truth is bigger than we realised at first.
Nevertheless, the overall mood of the film is buoyant, carried along by the scintillating visuals, of expensive parties, clothes, hotels and the vivacious and varied personalities in the party crowd. And, at one level, one can largely simply enjoy that part of it.
The setting in East Asia, with all leads East Asian, is surely a major nod to globalisation and the rise of East Asia in power and influence.
Point for reflection: Interesting how many rom-coms revolve around mismatches and resolving the attendant issues: When Harry Met Sally, Four Weddings And A Funeral, Notting Hill, even Pride and Prejudice, Crocodile Dundee, Jerry Maguire.
Legacy: CRA is quite likely to be a landmark in 2010-2020 cinema and a bit of a game-changer, both in terms of rom-com and a more globalised vision of films. Expect more films with similar characters and scenarios. A CRA sequel is already in the making.
Interesting and important fact: It is the first film by a major Hollywood studio to feature a majority Asian American cast in a modern setting since The Joy Luck Club in 1993.’ (Wiki) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Joy_Luck_Club_(film)
Unexpected fact: it was low budget and took only $30m to make. That’s really surprising when it’s a film largely about wealth, with lots of lavish set-pieces. In its first six weeks, it made $190m.
Rating: 4.5
Commentaires