Arts & Culture

The Wedding Banquet
Where: In theatres
What: Movie, 102 mins.
When: Fri., April 18
Genre: Rom-com
Rating: NNN (out of 5)
Why you should watch: A feel good, gentle comedy of friendship and community that could be a queer Friends

THE WEDDING BANQUET  is like an extended episode of Friends except all the adorable cast members are gay. The film opens in a sort of queer-topia where lesbian couple Lee (Lily Gladstone) and Angela’s (Kelly Marie Tran) biggest problem is that Angela’s mother, May Chen (Joan Chen), is too supportive, being honoured at a ceremony by LGBTQ+ support group PFLAG in the film’s opening scene.

Oh-so-cute queer neighbours and pals Chris (SNL’s Bowen Yang) and Min (Han Gi-chan) live in a shed in the couple’s backyard, offering punchline proximity as they enthusiastically and routinely exchange quips, knowing looks and juicy gossip with relentless upbeat intensity. It kind of works though it’s all a little too sitcom-smooth-and-snappy to offer any connection to the characters.

A cloud appears in the sky of this otherwise perfect queer-vanna when we learn Lily’s latest attempt at IVP pregnancy is, again, unsuccessful. More challenges emerge as Min unsuccessfully proposes to Chris, sparking much handwringing and occasionally mirthful musing. Out of this rejection, the plot quickly evolves to a green-card wedding between Min and Angela.

The film leaps from melodrama to meaningful when legendary Korean actor Youn Yuh-jung shows up as Min’s wealthy grandmother, Ja-Young, determined to figure out what’s going on and if her grandson is being shaken down for the family cash — turns out, she figured out he was queer long ago and just didn’t want to talk about it. Known to some for her role in Appletv+’s Pachinko, Youn raises the story and everyone around her with a powerful performance that shows the actor’s skill even in a film of modest ambition; she is able to communicate more with a glance than some deliver in a pages-long monologue. It’s a pleasure to watch Youn bring nuance to a role that could easily have been cliched and clumsy.

The cast is solid, with Yang continuing to impress as he is the current SNL cast member with the most film work. The Wedding Banquet is, inevitably, a feel-good story, surrendering to the rom-com formula and slathering good vibes and gentle life lessons on a celebration of queer family and community that never probes deeper than sitcom cosiness.