I thought the movie was excellent, except for the conclusion. Like most independent films, the third act is lacking. Kang really told a great story, but it kind of fell flat at the end. I guess his mother reading the story is supposed to be the conclusion, but maybe having some sort of dialogue with the son would have made the third act more fulfilling.

Otherwise, can't say enough good things about this movie. I liked that there were no stars. I always find a movie more believable when I don't know anyone in the cast. Hey look, it's Denzel. Wasn't he killed in Training Day? The opening scenes with strangers coming in to have sex and the family having to clean up their mess was done very well. Brought the audience into a world it never sees.

I knew very little about Asian relationships from movies. The only other Asian film (besides Crouching Tiger and the like) that I have seen that has dealt with relationships is the Joy Luck Club. It was nice to see this dynamic from the viewpoint of a young male. Joy Luck Club was solely from the female perspective.

Can't wait to see more from Kang.

Jul 11, 2006

This three star vignette of the life of Ernest, a Chinese-American boy on the verge of adolescence in his immigrant Chinese mother's no-star cheaters' motel, was well-done. The boy desperately needs a male role model since his father has apparently long-since left his life and his mother is busy clawing a living out of the run-down motel. There is no place for sentiment in her world. She takes care of business, addressing overstays with a baseball bat. At one juncture she breaks the chain lock of a door of a room where the couple inside has over-stayed the hour or two they paid for. She stalks away, leaving the door wide open on the naked occupants, and says to her father (the handyman), "Room 6 needs a new lock!"

Although decidedly over-weight with glasses, Ernest is not unappealing. He works hard cleaning the sordid rooms, does his homework and writes stories about his life. At the beginning of the movie, he has a special friendship with Christine, a slightly older Chinese-American girl whose family owns a restaurant near the motel. By the movie's end, however, Ernest seems to have destroyed this relationship as a result of his acting on the basis of the inappropriate models available to him -- abandoned porn magazines, the advice of a dissolute, depressed and self-destructive young Korean man who is reeling from his own wrecked marriage and the interactions of the "guests" with their mistresses or prostitutes.

The movie ends without providing the viewer with a definite resolution, although, to me, not without the possibility that the most important person in his world -- his mother -- has recognized the depth of his need for her love and approval. Another person, however, might draw a different conclusion.

The movie is not rated. It would be an R with the brief nudity, sexual situations, and occasional bad language (MF bomb).

The film starts out on a light note with 13 year old Ernest eating an egg roll sitting on a dumpster outside a Chinese restaurant. He is smitten by a 15 year old girl working at the restaurant with whom he shares life and growing up experiences. Ernest is in love, while the girl (Christine) doesn't hold the same feelings. (Such is life.)

There are some funny scenes and others that make you feel awkward. (Spoiler) The best acting scene was at the very end when he comes face to face with his mother. There is no conversation, just a look of understanding on both their faces. This would have been a great turning point for the film, but alas it ends here. Made me hungry for more.

Has anyone else ever eaten 3 day old Popeye's chicken they found left behind in a Motel room?