The seemingly happy, romantic comedy “Crazy Rich Asians” proves to be a two hour realistic drama of what “meeting the parents” actually entails.
The movie follows Rachel Chu and Nick Young, a seemingly normal couple currently living in New York. When Nick asks if Rachel will accompany him to his best friend’s wedding in his home country of Singapore, she comes to find out that Nick and his family are extremely wealthy.
Rachel was born in America and did not come from money, causing Nick’s mother to harshly judge her, which becomes the main issue throughout the movie. Though her struggle to prove herself to his mother is carried from start to finish, there is a constant power shift between the two.
Eventually Rachel comes to realize that with Nick being so close to his mother, the only options are to stay with him so he loses his mother or let him go so he can keep that relationship. It’s a difficult decision that takes a toll on Rachel until she later in the movie makes up her mind on what to do.
This represents the struggle many in relationships face — not just their partner, but the family that comes with them. Even with the addition of the wealthy family, it still gives insight into how this meeting the parents event goes when they do not approve of you.
That being said, I felt that some parts of the story unnecessarily dragged out individual scenes in order to make the drama more apparent. Thankfully, the comedy was present, providing breaks between heavily dramatic or drawn out scenes.
The jokes presented throughout the movie were funny, though some were slightly predictable. A couple of the characters were major forms of comic relief themselves, appearing as people you love to laugh or roll your eyes at because they are simply ridiculous. I could definitely see people becoming annoyed with the repetitiveness of jokes those characters bring.
Overall, “Crazy Rich Asians” was a good movie with entertaining comedy. When going to pick out a movie to see, I would say to check out “Crazy Rich Asians” if you're in the mood for something with a linear storyline, on and off heavy drama and comical moments.
Tiffani Watteyne is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted by email at culture@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @tiffanirosew.
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