Written by: Andrew Ahn & James Schamus
Starring: Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone, Kelly Marie Tran, Han Gi-chan, Joan Chen, Youn Yuh-jung
Rating: [4/5]
Juggling together various storylines always have the best of intentions, but it requires deft storytelling abilities to ensure each of them have their moments to shine along with fulfillment. We see this aspiration fail all the time, but in The Wedding Banquet we see this valiant attempt pay out dividends. While it had moments where it felt it was going off the rails, it all comes together as quite the special story.
Two couples live in the same residence, Angela (Kelly Marie Tran) and Lee (Lily Gladstone) along with Chris (Bowen Yang) and Min (Han Gi-chan). Angela and Lee are struggling to conceive via IVF and are running out of funds. Chris and Min are facing issues because he either needs to step into his family business or go back to South Korea with his visa expiring. With Chris hesitating to commit to him, Min proposes he could help fund Lee and Angela’s IVF if Angela agrees to fraudulently marry him.
With a premise that feels right out of a broad comedy, The Wedding Banquet contains so many multitudes to the story it wants to tell. Yes, we have the dynamic between these two couples both on the intra and inter level, but also bringing in other characters into the fray. This includes Angela’s mother May (Joan Chen) and Min’s grandmother Ja-Young (Youn Yuh-jung). Bringing together so many issues that require resolutions comes as a tough task that I felt this feature would not handle well, but thankfully all involved proved me wrong.
Looking specifically at Angela, she must contend with the hardships IVF has not only on her partner Lee, but also the financial realities of how much this process continues to financially drain them. That alone could be its own feature film, but then we have the contentious feeling she has towards her mother, May, who everyone loves as this staunch ally to the LGBTQ+ community, but Angela feels quite different about this praise her mother receives. She then connects over to Chris and Min’s situation where the latter asks for her to marry him just for the immigration stability. Plenty enough for a whole story but then we also have Min and Chris’s individual struggles as Chris has to battle his own issues before committing to Min. On top of that, Min needs to stave off his grandmother, who gets far more involved when this fake marriage becomes a set reality.
Each of these storylines have their own intricacies to handle both on a thematic and a cultural but Andrew Ahn weaves through them in such a meaningful manner that allows for a resolution to each of them. Sure, some could have seen more time and exploration into them, namely the dynamic between Angela and her mother, but it still receives a nice bow to it. Ahn came onto the scene for me with Driveways where he proved he can tell intimate and truly human stories that will melt your heart. In his latest two outings, which includes this film and Fire Island he’s leaning more towards broader comedy but still beautifully lands the deeply-felt emotions of the stories in such a meaningful way. Each of these characters have a texture to them that makes them lovable, even with their faults and their warts.
Additionally, what makes this feature so impactful is the amazing cast. Lily Gladstone, Kelly Marie Tran, Han Gi-chan, Joan Chen, and Youn Yuh-jung were all fantastic. I am particularly so happy Kelly Marie Tran, in particular, got a meaty role as Angela as she well and truly became the heart and soul of this film. She’s the one at the center connecting to every other thread of this narrative and even with the dourness of her character, we feel these moments with her as she contends with a whole host of emotions. She pairs well with every other actor in here, allowing for each of those little resolutions to feel equally meaningful. A special shoutout also to Youn Yuh-jung, whose character had the makings of a stereotypical strict grandmother, but the way Youn brings those smaller moments of tenderness and vulnerability to her really sets the stage for some of the most beautiful moments this film has to offer.
While having not seen the original Ang Lee film as of the writing of this review where this film drew its inspiration, this iteration of The Wedding Banquet is a winner. We have so much flowing through these characters as the messiness of their lives bleed into each other’s. We see plenty of difficult emotions to navigate between them as their vulnerabilities appear for all to see and prod at. Each of these characters has their own emotional journeys they must navigate, and none of it gets cheapened in the slightest as we navigate the general comedy on display. Quite the cast and another strong by Andrew Ahn as he delivers his best work yet.
Films with Josh 
