BEFORE: Charlyne Yi carries over from "Paper Heart", so see that? It all worked out. If I had watched "Paper Heart" in a previous year, then I'd have no link to get here, or at least a different link to get here.
I find myself at the intersection of Valentine's Day weekend and Lunar New Year - I promise that this was unintentional, to be watching a film with several Asian or Asian-American actors, but it happened. See how the linking leads me where I need to be, even if I didn't plan it? I mean, I might have known subconsciously that Lunar New Year, a holiday based on the Chinese calendar, might be somewhere around here, but I didn't actively know that was TODAY, or, umm, yesterday. Originally "Paper Heart" was scheduled for Feb. 14, because that title sounded like another word for a Valentine's Day card, and it was (supposedly) a documentary about love. But since I had to drop one film and move things around, that put a different film on Feb. 14, and that also put this one here.
I know, Randall Park is of Korean descent, and Ali Wong was born in America, but is part Chinese and Vietnamese, and quite honestly, I don't know which cultures celebrate Lunar New Year and which don't. (Should probably look into that...) Either way, though, the staff here at the Movie Year is committed to celebrating diversity in many forms, and in no way should my non-celebration of Black History Month or any other culture's holiday be taken as a slight - I'm just too busy with romances during February to also mark Black History Month, or MLK Day, or even President's Day, for that matter. Mea culpa. I condemn white privilege and white supremacy in all its forms (See, Donald, it's not difficult to say...)
THE PLOT: Everyone assumed Sasha and Marcus would wind up together - except for Sasha and Marcus. Reconnecting after 15 years, the two start to wonder - maybe?
AFTER: There's a lot that gets covered here, some of which I've already seen covered this month, but there's some fresh stuff, too. The thirty-something guy who can't quite seem to get his life together, that's not much different from characters in "The Giant Mechanical Man" or "I'll See You in My Dreams" or even "Almost Friends". Marcus here is working with his dad in a small HVAC installation company, while fronting a Bay Area band that doesn't want to be that well-known outside a two-block radius. He may have good rhymes - or not, I can't really say - but his delivery needs work. Perhaps it's meant to be ironic?
Sasha, meanwhile, is a celebrity chef of sorts, with trendy Asian fusion restaurants in New York and L.A., but she comes back to her home of San Francisco to open a new trans-Asian concept place, whatever that means. Renting a house for two months allows her friends to hire a company to install air conditioning and sneak Marcus back into the picture, as Sasha has recently taken her relationship with her publicist/manager to a new level - one where he's moved to Asia, they get to see other people and then (theoretically) come back together with a new perspective and maybe get married. Really, the guy just wanted to break up with her and move away, only he pitched it as a very different concept. That's pretty slick, to break it off with someone, while calling it something else.
First, though, we see how the two bonded as childhood friends - Sasha's parents were always working, so she learned to cook dinner for herself (spam & rice - looks great!), but also she would often be invited to Marcus's house because his mother made too much soup for the family. As teenagers, they were still close, but after Marcus's mother died, they had awkward teen sex in the backseat of his car, and that led to an argument in Burger King, causing them to part ways.
After Sasha returns to town, they fall back into a friendship, she comes to see his band perform, but things can only go so far because Marcus has a girlfriend (who's a terrible cook - though I'd probably be OK with Vienna sausages in Rice-a-Roni...) and Sasha somehow stumbles into a relationship with Keanu Reeves, who plays a fictionalized version of himself (another connection to yesterday's film). It seems like Marcus and Sasha are destined to be nothing more than friends, but a horrible double-date at a super-trendy, mega-expensive restaurant somehow has a way of changing everyone's course. Wedges are driven between Marcus and Keanu, and thus also between Sasha and Keanu, and maybe even between Marcus and his girlfriend Jenny - that's one really divisive party game! It's a bit like "Truth or Dare" meets "Never Have I Ever", and everyone's secrets are revealed. Thankfully, it also manages to get Marcus and Sasha back on the relationship track, if only Marcus is willing to take that big growing-up step, and Sasha is willing to reconsider her pretentious restaurant concept for something more down-to-earth.
Despite the ridiculous nature of some elements here, the main story is, I think, fairly believable. And the high-end restaurant business may be an easy target, but it's definitely one that needs to be taken down a peg. Too many foams, airs and crystallized flavor bubbles out there, if you ask me. How many people in the audience can relate, though, with spending a few grand on a seven-course meal and still leaving the restaurant hungry? It's OK, as long as Keanu's picking up the tab. (Keanu Reeves is also partially of Chinese descent - so I think culturally speaking, I'm in the clear here. Happy Lunar New Year, Keanu! I promise that the new "Bill & Ted" movie is on my watchlist, and I'll get to it as soon as I don't have to pay more than $3.99 to see it. I could watch it now for $5.99, but, you know, romance chain right now.)
Nice plug here for the Fairmont Hotel - Keanu's character has a penthouse suite there, and the view is amazing. I went there on my one day trip to San Francisco, because I'd heard about the incredible Tonga Room, where it rains indoors to simulate a tropical rain forest. Just wanted to have a cocktail there to follow Anthony Bourdain's path from his "The Layover" series, but I neglected to check to see what days the lounge was open, and it turned out to be closed on Tuesdays. (This was just slightly pre-Yelp, I think...). I was very disappointed, but I found another place to get a tropical cocktails and then drowned my sorrows at the House of Prime Rib. Actually, the whole walking tour was to make up for the fact that I'd been invited to visit Skywalker Ranch in 2012 after Comic-Con, but my visit got cancelled because of George Lucas' retirement press conference. I made the best of my time in S.F., but somebody still owes me something for all the cancellations. I also noticed the Palace of Art making an appearance here, that was the second place I went in town, after the ILM office in the Presidio.
Also starring Ali Wong (last seen in "Birds of Prey"), Randall Park (last seen in "Long Shot"), James Saito (ditto), Michelle Buteau, Vivian Bang (last seen in "Yes Man"), Keanu Reeves (last seen in "Replicas"), Susan Park, Daniel Dae Kim (last seen in "Addicted to Love"), Karan Soni (last seen in "Rough Night"), Lyrics Born (last seen in "Sorry to Bother You"), Casey Wilson (last seen in "Killers"), Raymond Ma, Peggy Lu (last seen in "Venom"), Miya Cech, Ashley Liao, Emerson Min, Jackson Geach (last seen in "Baywatch"), Anaiyah Bernier, Simon Chin, Panta Mosleh, Karen Holness, Peter New (last seen in "1922").
RATING: 6 out of 10 Gubi chairs
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