Saving Face (2004)

Directed by Alice Wu. Starring Michelle Krusiec, Lynn Chen, Joan Chen, Guang Lan Koh, Jin Wang, Jessica Hecht, Wang Luoyong, Ato Essandoh, Brian Yang, Nathaniel Geng. [R]

Predictable feel-good romantic comedy that amiably (and shallowly) tackles the divide between traditional values and progressive change within immigrant Chinese-American families. Krusiec’s gay surgeon is in love with her boss’ daughter (Lynn Chen), but Krusiec is still closeted to her conservative mother (Joan Chen), who’s dealing with her own personal shame—pregnancy out of wedlock. Aside from a few cultural taboo specifics and fleeting moments of eroticism, there’s nothing particularly fresh or original here, although there are enough agreeable performances and mild chuckles to make it go down easy until the soapy final scenes. It may not be fair to demand something special out of an extremely rare instance of a Hollywood movie focusing on Chinese-Americans, but since so much of the behavior and attitudes are based on “face” traditions, it is fair to demand something less devoted to universal compatibility than societal identity. Wu’s feature directorial debut; Will Smith co-produced.

56/100