Crazy Rich Asians, starring Constance Wu and Henry Golding, finally opened here in China on Friday, so my husband I saw it for our weekly date night. We loved it! It was so sweet and funny. I haven’t read the book by Kevin Kwan, but I really want to now. I wasn’t sure how much I would really like the movie because I don’t watch many romantic comedies or read much contemporary fiction, but it was really a fantastic movie. Here is a summary in case you aren’t familiar with the film.
When New Yorker Rachel Chu agrees to spend the summer in Singapore with her boyfriend, Nicholas Young, she envisions a humble family home and quality time with the man she hopes to marry. But Nick has failed to give his girlfriend a few key details. One, that his childhood home looks like a palace; two, that he grew up riding in more private planes than cars; and three, that he just happens to be the country’s most eligible bachelor.
On Nick’s arm, Rachel may as well have a target on her back the second she steps off the plane, and soon, her relaxed vacation turns into an obstacle course of old money, new money, nosy relatives, and scheming social climbers.
Even though the movie has an exclusively Chinese cast and is set in Singapore, the plot is a tale as old as time. How can an outsider ever be good enough for one of the richest families in the world? The film definitely has a universal appeal.
I only wish I could have seen the film in a more packed theater. We live in a small town, so there was only one other couple in the theater with us, but they loved the film even more than we did. They were laughing and cheering and kissing and hugging and even crying at the very end. While the film appeals to anyone who loves a feel-good flick, the impact of this movie on not just Chinese-Americans but Chinese youths around the world cannot be overstated. A sequel is already rightfully in the works, and hopefully Hollywood is scrambling for more books about Chinese and Asian characters to adapt in the future.