Crazy Rich Asians Review - Rich In Texture

Crazy Rich Asians is the Bollywood film that the West has always craved for. In fact, though its textures seamlessly blend in the hustle of New York with the lavish lifestyles of Singapore, the film’s DNA is distinctly Asian; specifically Indian. Our films and actors have always revelled in the fact that they can sing and dance and live out fairytales that we mundane audiences can only watch quietly. Here, director John M. Chu, who’s working off a script by Peter Chiarelli and Adele Lim, which itself is based off of the book of the same name by Kevin Kwan, applies the same principle.

But unlike our films, Crazy Rich Asians doesn’t enshroud itself so much in a utopia, that it struggles to get out. It’s real, raw and fine - and ultimately, behind the glamour, there’s much to look away from. Through the film, Chu tackles many facets of Oriental culture, sometimes straight out deeming them foolish, through his lead character Rachel Chu, played by a stellar Constance Wu. Rachel has come home to Singapore with her boyfriend Nick, only to find out a big secret his family has been hiding from him all along - his family is (titularly) ‘crazy rich’. They inhabit the world of high society, where aunties read bibles, play mahjong and glare angrily at each other.

It’s simply fascinating. And because the film is set mainly around a mansion, its sets are visually sumptuous. Cinematographer Vanja Cernjul beautifully captures how rich these people are, with signature top shots and gorgeous close ups of precious artefacts in the beautiful house being his favourite. But it’s not the sets, but the actors and characters who inhabit them, that make the screen sparkle. Alongside Wu as the protagonist, are Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh and especially Awkwafina - each of whom shine on the screen, leaving a lasting impression, as a head-over-heels in love fiancé, a catty mother-in-law and a bitchy best friend respectively.

While the film is artistically stunning, it doesn’t only tap into how rich these people are. It also talks about how emotionally deprived they are, but with the light touch that the script takes, Chu smartly doesn’t equate richness with unhappiness, a mistake famously made by Zoya Akhtar in Dil Dhadakne Do (2015). So, these people are deliciously, darkly contempt being rich and unhappy, but as this firecracker woman enters their lives and threatens to destroy the sense of equilibrium around their illustrious lives, they react - some better than others.

Also smart is that the film never commits to only one story. There are multiple entangled suplots, involving marital abuse, an affair and racial prejudices. The scriptwriters dive into many ugly truths, keeping the overall mood of the film fun and frothy. The first half works like a charm. The visuals are spectacular, Constance Wu delves into Rachel, a meaty role, and instils within her a special spark. The screen lights up whenever she’s on it, however I wish the writers had given her a little more than a brittle exterior and a calm and composed interior.

Even more fascinating in Henry Golding playing Rachel’s boyfriend, Nick Young. Now Nick isn’t a new character in films. He plays the heir of a multi-billion dollar company who must choose between the perfect girl and the perfect empire. Don’t tell me it’s a spoiler - you know which one he chooses. It’s literally written in the damn lines of a rom-com, which Crazy Rich Asians would be, were it not for the gargantuan talent and screen presence that Michelle Yeoh as a tough-talking Singaporean mother commands.

When her Eleanor speaks, you sit upright and listen. She has a certain elegance that she conducts herself with, that she is equal parts intimidating and cultivated. Eleanor is a vulnerable woman with a backstory of her own. In a standout scene in the last act of the film, Rachel tells Eleanor that if she really gets the daughter-in-law she wants, it’ll be because of Rachel - a poor, lower-class, immigrant nobody. Both the actresses drive Crazy Rich Asians, even as it gets bumpy - especially during a side track involving a bachelorette party.

It doesn’t help that the Indian censors have completely butchered the film - especially in a key scene involving a gutted fish and the line, “Catch this, you gold digging bitch.” You can imagine how the censors played with that one. But, to add necessary doses of comedy, digital star Awkwafina, plays Peik Lin, described as the ‘Asian Ellen’ by her father, played a hilarious Ken Jeong. So, Crazy Rich Asians isn’t perfect, but it discovers human complexities and goes places where other romantic comedies dare not have traveled. It’s visually stunning and has good performances throughout.

And as Chu and his writers tell it - these Asians may be crazy rich, but they’re just as crazy.