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Comfortable Behind The Opulence

Posted in General Comments, Movie Review, Movies, Reviews, tagged Araminta Lee, Astrid Leong Teo, Awkwafina, Chris Pang, Cinderella, Colin Khoo, Constance Wu, Crazy Rich Asians (2018) -- movie review, Eddie Murphy, Eleanor Young, Gemma Chan, General Comments, Goh Peik Lin, Goh Wye Mun, Hallmark, Henry Golding, High to Very Highly Recommended Movie, Ken Jeong, Lisa Lu, Michelle Yeoh, Movie Reviews, Nick Young, Nico Santos, Nouveau Riche, Oliver T'sien, Rachel Chu, Reviews, Robin Williams, Shang Su Yi, Singapore, Sonoya Mizuno, YouTube on August 22, 2025| 2 Comments »

“Crazy Rich Asians” (2018) — movie review
Today’s review is for the Asian rom-com “Crazy Rich Asians” (2018), starring Constance Wu as Rachel Chu (an intelligent and down-to-earth Chinese-American NYU economics professor, who finds herself thrust into a world of immense wealth while navigating elite Singaporean society), Henry Golding as Nick Young (a charming and handsome heir to a massive Singaporean fortune, who has kept his family’s wealth a secret from Rachel), Michelle Yeoh as Eleanor Young (Nick’s formidable and stoic mother; gatekeeper of family tradition, she is a powerful matriarch and a major obstacle for Rachel), Gemma Chan as Astrid Leong Teo (Nick’s cousin; elegant socialite with a troubled marriage), Lisa Lu as Shang Su Yi (Nick’s grandmother; matriarch of the Young family), Awkwafina as Goh Peik Lin (Rachel’s vibrant and eccentric college friend; comic relief in the film, support for her friend and guide to Singapore’s nouveau riche), Ken Jeong as Goh Wye Mun (Peik Lin’s flashy father; warm and welcoming to Rachel), Sonoya Mizuno as Araminta Lee (Bride-to-be; social media influencer and extravagantly wealthy), Chris Pang as Colin Khoo (Nick’s best friend and the groom at the wedding, he provides emotional support and perspective to Nick), and Nico Santos as Oliver T’sien (Nick’s second cousin, part of the extended T’sien branch of the family, which — while not quite as wealthy as the Young’s — is still fabulously rich by any normal standard).

Background: Way back in the 00s, I worked at a company which would hire a majority of our coders as H1-B’s from India and Asia. That’s a work / residence status which more or less indentured foreigners to the company for the duration of employment. I spoke with one who was from Malaysia about his experience in the U.S. He said he came for the education and decided to stay for a couple of years of work experience. He said he had a job waiting for him back home, but he wanted some work experience without family pressure. I asked what he meant and he said his family was wealthy and he just wanted to see if he could make it on his own. He still allowed the family to pay for his rent and expenses – his own pay was used just for “fun”. I don’t know if he was telling the truth or not but he sure made it sound like he was. He said living in the U.S. took getting used to because back home he had servants for everything. Again, he said it in such an off-hand way, I had to believe him. …All this brings me to say, I say a YouTube clip where the lead female asks her boyfriend if he’s rich and he says his family is “comfortable”. Her reply, “That’s what all rich people say.” And that’s how this film piqued my curiosity and I decided to check it out…

Plot Summary: Rachel Chu, a brilliant NYU economics professor specializing in “game theory”, travels to Singapore with her boyfriend Nick Young for his best friend’s (Colin) wedding. What she doesn’t know is that Nick belongs to one of Asia’s wealthiest and most influential families. As Rachel is thrust into a world of unimaginable luxury, she faces scrutiny from jealous socialites and Nick’s disapproving mother, Eleanor. Navigating opulent parties, family traditions, and vicious gossip, Rachel must decide whether love is worth the cost of joining the family. Meanwhile, Astrid, Nick’s “perfect” cousin, grapples with her own marital crisis (husband’s infidelity), revealing an emotional toll to privilege. The film peaks with a lavish wedding and Nick’s proposal to Rachel on a jet as she tries to return to the U.S. without him.

So, how’s the acting? The filming / FX? Any problems? And, did I like the film? Short answers: Good to very good and a couple of greats; good; only minor problems; and, yes – I enjoyed this film a lot!

Acting: “Cinderella” genre movies – rom-com or otherwise – always come down to chemistry between the leads and whether the “baddies” can be sufficiently “bad” / “cruel”. Both are on point in this film. There is pretty good chemistry and the future mother-in-law and the jealous “other” ladies carry their parts believably. I need to give a shout-out to Nico Santos as Oliver T’sien and to Awkwafina. He is over-the-top great! His one-liners are worth the price of admission. A chubby combination of Robin Williams and Eddie Murphy. One zinger after another! Awkwafina is “almost” as great in her role as Rachel’s college friend.

Special Effects: While not a visual effects-heavy film, the film uses subtle CGI enhancements to elevate its grandeur – mainly the residences and their contents. The funniest effect is one of the relatives shooting fireworks off of a ship he’s rented for the bachelor party. He’s using what appears to be a military grade bazooka / anti-tank rocket launcher and he asks one of the bikini-clad women partyers to stand behind him and “watch this!” She does, and the back-blast sends her flying about 20 feet through the air. The scene happens so fast (and mostly unexpectedly) that if you blink, you’ll miss it.

Problems: There are only two minor problems I had with this film: 1) there was nothing distinctly cultural about the film. It could have been about any ethnic, racial, national or religious group – minority or majority. And, 2) The only “suspension of belief” moment I had was: you have a highly educated economics professor dating (over a year) a “business” person who won’t tell you what he does and you can’t be bothered to Google him? Stretches credulity, but okay… Like I said, minor problems.

And did I like / enjoy this film: Yes! Very much! Even though it is “just” a rom-com, it is both a tear jerker and a outright laugher of a film.

Final Recommendation: High to very highly recommended film! Having made the comparison, I’ll extend it… As a “romantic” movie, this film is better than 90% of all the Hallmark movies I’ve viewed. As a comedy, it is better than 90% of the non-straight up comedies I’ve viewed. It is not a slap-stick or farcical comedy, which makes it even more appealing. It’s about poking fun at a society with multiple generations so wealthy they have little to no concept of the value of money for the average person. It’s over the top, but so are most of these “Hallmark / almost Hallmark” rom-com movies about royalty (rich) marrying a commoner (poor). They are less about a belief in the plot as much as there either is “chemistry” between the leads or there isn’t. In this film, there is – so the unrealistic plot didn’t matter to me.

Final note: Given there is a post-credit scene, I guess there are plans for some kind of a sequel – movie or TV series. I did Google it and it’s kind of up in the air as of this date.

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Click here (22 August) to see the posts of prior years. I started this blog in late 2009. Daily posting began in late January 2011. Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.