‘The Wedding Banquet’ explores heavy issues through a witty satirical lens

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Here comes the bride (sort of).

Synopsis

The Wedding Banquet follows two couples: Angela (Kelly Marie Tran) and Lee (Lily Gladstone), and Min (Han Gi-chan) and Chris (Bowen Yang). Min, a South Korean immigrant, is put in a tough position when his conservative grandmother, Ja-Young (Youn Yuh-jung), wants him to return to their home country. Desperate to get a green card so he can stay in the U.S., Min comes up with an elaborate plan.

Turning to Angela for help, Min offers to pay for her and Lee’s IVF treatment if she marries him. Angela agrees to participate in the sham wedding, where it’ll be a simple affair at the courthouse. Unfortunately, Ja-Young shows up to America to demand they have a real wedding banquet, causing them to scramble to put a wedding together and keep their real sexual identities a secret.

My thoughts

The Wedding Banquet is a remake of Ang Lee’s 1993 film of the same name. It bears some similarities with the original film, at least regarding the general premise of gay and lesbian characters needing to participate in a sham marriage to placate their traditionalist elders. As one should when remaking a film, writer-director Andrew Ahn and co-writer James Schamus (who co-wrote and produced the original with Lee) take the same basic idea but give it a fresh coat of paint.

While this new version essentially tells the same story with the same overall themes, it updates many aspects of modern times. The original film was ahead of its time in its portrayal of being homosexual in a traditionalist family or culture back in 1993, so logically, this one fits right in with what’s going on today. Society has made a lot of progress in accepting LGBTQ+, but some of those people still live in families that don’t fully accept that.

An inconvenient proposal

The themes being explored in The Wedding Banquet are topical and serious, but it’s also incredibly funny. One significant scene from the original that made its way in here is where the characters need to quickly “de-gay” the house before Min’s grandmother shows up, as to not arouse any suspicion of their sexuality. It’s a scene that’s played for laughs, but also the scene that perfectly sums up the movie, displaying that some people can sadly never be their real selves in front of their loved ones.

The titular banquet itself is also a lot of fun in a surprisingly understated way, with the comedy of errors leading up to this climax being well plotted, raising the stakes, and, most importantly, hilarious. The movie isn’t really about the banquet itself but about the characters navigating this difficult situation in their lives. It’s heartfelt, especially in the final ten minutes, but it’s not schmaltzy. Just very reserved and authentically straightforward, allowing you to live in the moment with these people. There’s an underlying sweetness that fully comes to fruition at the end, as if the movie is maturing alongside the characters.

An interesting character was Angela’s mother, May, played by the wonderful Joan Chen. Her character is the perfect example of the performative progressive type who loves to parade herself as better than everybody else. Having a lesbian daughter isn’t really something she wears as a badge of pride, but really just uses for bragging rights, like it gives her some sort of special status. She still deeply loves her Angela, but doesn’t understand using her as some sort of trophy makes her ignorant in her own way.

The visuals are filled with pretty, vibrant colors thanks to the Asian settings and décor. For the most part, though, Ahn just lets the camera rest and lets you take in all the nuances of the performances. Some significant scenes have characters just looking at each other and not saying a single word, but that’s all you need. These actors are simply natural and have strong, realistic chemistry.

Platonic romantics

You couldn’t have asked for a better cast, as everyone here is pretty much perfect. It’s a delight to see Lily Gladstone again, and I appreciate her putting just as much effort into a romantic comedy as she does in a Martin Scorsese picture. There were brief glimpses of her comedic talent in Killers of the Flower Moon, so seeing her get to fully be funny in a role that wasn’t completely filled with tragedy was refreshing.

There’s still some sadness to be found now and then, and Gladstone gets to show how talented a dramatic actress she is. She’s definitely the best of the bunch, but the rest of the cast are no slouches either. Kelly Marie Tran is terrific and gets to show the world what she’s made of after the Star Wars franchise and its toxic fandom treated her so poorly. She’s also a good sport for going along with the Star Wars reference in this movie, as I would never want to hear those words again in my life, if I were her.

Every character has their own personal struggles and dilemmas that intertwine with the others, but Angela is the clear main character here. There’s a lot in her life she has to juggle, and Tran plays it all perfectly. She’s funny with some great line delivery during most of the film but gets a few opportunities to shoot an arrow through your heart. Let’s hope this propels her into doing more movies like this so she can leave blockbuster slop behind for good.

Bowen Yang gets to flex his dramatic muscles, even if the mode he’s in doesn’t veer too far from how he usually performs. I’m still not used to him acting so sincere, which he does many times here, but he still manages to sell those emotional beats. What works best is his believable chemistry with Han Gi-chan, where it’s evident they clearly love each other, but life keeps throwing things in their way. Every relationship is an authentic mixture of love and pain.

Joan Chen and Youn Yuh-jung bring a certain gravitas to the film as the elders. Like Chen’s character May, Youn acts as a similar type of controlling matriarchal figure in her grandson’s life. She also worries about her social status and how others will perceive her for having a gay grandson, having shame, instead of pride. These two women might have different goals and views on the matter, but both of them are still trying to control and manipulate the situation to their benefit.

Final verdict

The Wedding Banquet is a great romantic comedy due to the quick-witted dialogue and timely social satire, but it’s the dramatic elements and the amazing cast that really elevate it. Each actor gives a remarkable performance that really makes these characters and story feel alive. Most romantic comedies tend to strain believability, but The Wedding Banquet plays everything respectably straight, while still bringing the laughs.