Loved the book.
Loved the movie.
“Crazy Rich Asians” is a happy, feel-good, rom-com with a twist.
Which is…that every single actor is Asian. I think there might have been a few, inconsequential non-Asians in crowd scenes, but all the parts, big or small, belong to Asians, and there was a real coming-of-age feel to the film.
Oh yes, hang on, there were 2 snobby Brits and a nice Brit in the opening scene of the film, but those were, I think, the only non-Asians who spoke even a couple of lines.
In the sadly depressing world in which we live today, a happy film, peopled by gorgeous youngsters, wearing amazing clothes, is just the tonic one needs.
The film is based on the book (which I reviewed in my book review blog a few weeks ago – here you go, here’s the link) but there is enough divergence to make the film different.
Most of the actors were beyond perfect for their characters.
The dreamy Nick Young is portrayed by the totally dreamy Henry Golding, seen here (below) with his true love, Rachel Chu (right) and his formidable grandmother, played perfectly, absolutely perfectly, by the wonderful 91 year old Lisa Lu.
Michelle Yeoh (above) is also perfect as Nick’s manipulative mother, though Eleanor is not half as wicked on screen as she is in the book, I might add.
Gemma Chan as Astrid is spot-on. Drop-dead gorgeous and with an ethereal quality to her.
Although much of the frenzied shopping trips, the endless name-dropping, the luxury one-up-man-ship of the book is missing from the film, the world of luxury and privilege is there for us all to see. Singapore looks smashing, and seeing it on screen made me want to revisit, after way too many years away.
This is a fun, visually gorgeous movie.
You absolutely don’t need to have read the book at all to enjoy it, not at all. My daughter and I had both read and loved the book, & we both thoroughly enjoyed the film.
My husband hadn’t read the book, and also thoroughly enjoyed the film.
Stand-out actors?
Nico Santos (below) as Oliver. He is perfect.
Awkwafina (below) as Peik Lin. She is a scene stealer. Absolute star.
Who else did I love?
The gorgeous Sonoya Mizuno as Araminta.
Her arrival at her wedding was epic:
Enjoy the film.
It is visually gorgeous, has a happier ending than the book, and even made me shed a tear or two.
What’s not to love?
And I DO hope there will be sequel…