I see a lot of reviewers here take issue of the casual use of "Asian" in the title. While I agree with that in principle, I think it should not be a reason to shoot this film down.
This is a decent drama aimed at breaking into white-predominant Western market, and there are many elements designed to make it more easily understood by that group of audience, including the casual use of "Asian". In a way, this is a light intro into dating East Asia guys. There is the issue of typical power struggle between daughter in law and the mother, who typically runs the family. Since Asians typically value family unity and respect the opinion of elderly of the family a lot more than most Western cultures, approval from the parents could be a make or break moment for the relationship. A lot of Asian dramas feature or even center around such conflicts. Such family value also leads to more intense internal and external struggle between collectivity (what the family wants) and individuality. Finally, the sake of family benefit is often tied to material measures (impact on wealth and status from the new member). This is exacerbated by the cultural clash, here represented by a very Americanized Asian, of collectivism and individualism.
Those above-mentioned topics are typically increasingly pronounced as the family net worth increases, therefore it is understandable that a rich Singaporean family was chosen as the story setup. The scenes of glamorous parties also serve as great material for marketing, and help keep the interest of audience, which might have been otherwise difficult had the film dived too deep into Asian family affairs that other ethnic groups have little touchpoint with. I do not agree with some of the reviews suggesting that the point is to flash the money - quite the contrary, it plays more of a supporting role in the film. However, those comments do show that they did distract the audience from the main story/message.
Overall it is an entertainment film, not a social critique or culture study documentary, and for that it is decently made. The main actresses did a brilliant job, but the rest of the pack fell rather flat or even failed quite badly. The camera work was pretty good and, together with the nice cars and beautiful architectures, helped partially cover up the shortcoming of acting. The development of the plot is rather obvious and predictable, and there is not enough relationship-building to support the story. The couple show a lot of affection towards each other but the audience cannot see where that comes from. The protagonist most definitely acted like a NYU economic student rather than a professor (due to the script writing, not the acting). It is the right step for Asian community in the entertainment business, but there is still a lot work to be done. This film can be a good pass time but not a must watch.
This is a decent drama aimed at breaking into white-predominant Western market, and there are many elements designed to make it more easily understood by that group of audience, including the casual use of "Asian". In a way, this is a light intro into dating East Asia guys. There is the issue of typical power struggle between daughter in law and the mother, who typically runs the family. Since Asians typically value family unity and respect the opinion of elderly of the family a lot more than most Western cultures, approval from the parents could be a make or break moment for the relationship. A lot of Asian dramas feature or even center around such conflicts. Such family value also leads to more intense internal and external struggle between collectivity (what the family wants) and individuality. Finally, the sake of family benefit is often tied to material measures (impact on wealth and status from the new member). This is exacerbated by the cultural clash, here represented by a very Americanized Asian, of collectivism and individualism.
Those above-mentioned topics are typically increasingly pronounced as the family net worth increases, therefore it is understandable that a rich Singaporean family was chosen as the story setup. The scenes of glamorous parties also serve as great material for marketing, and help keep the interest of audience, which might have been otherwise difficult had the film dived too deep into Asian family affairs that other ethnic groups have little touchpoint with. I do not agree with some of the reviews suggesting that the point is to flash the money - quite the contrary, it plays more of a supporting role in the film. However, those comments do show that they did distract the audience from the main story/message.
Overall it is an entertainment film, not a social critique or culture study documentary, and for that it is decently made. The main actresses did a brilliant job, but the rest of the pack fell rather flat or even failed quite badly. The camera work was pretty good and, together with the nice cars and beautiful architectures, helped partially cover up the shortcoming of acting. The development of the plot is rather obvious and predictable, and there is not enough relationship-building to support the story. The couple show a lot of affection towards each other but the audience cannot see where that comes from. The protagonist most definitely acted like a NYU economic student rather than a professor (due to the script writing, not the acting). It is the right step for Asian community in the entertainment business, but there is still a lot work to be done. This film can be a good pass time but not a must watch.