“The Farewell” Review by Brooke Daugherty
August 12, 2019 7:00 pm |
Responses to the question “Who is Awkwafina?” range from “She’s funny.” to “The rapper?” to “Are you talking about the water?” but soon people will be responding with compliments for her dramatic performances. Her comedic roles in Ocean’s 8 and Crazy Rich Asians last year caused a lot of people to take notice. Instead of being pigeonholed as “the funny friend”, she has shown her acting chops in The Farewell. Possible mild spoilers ahead.
The Farewell is “based on a true lie from director” Lulu Wang. The story centers around Chinese American Billi (Awkwafina) and her family travel back to China to gather the family, one last time before her grandmother Nai-Nai succumbs to lung cancer, under the guise of her cousin’s hurried wedding. Nai-Nai, played masterfully by Zhao Shuzhen, has no idea everyone has returned to say goodbye as her sister and doctor have both been lying about her health. The entire family decides not to tell Nai-Nai her fate and instead share the emotional burden among them.
For the first half of the movie, it seems Billi might let her grandmother know about her death sentence. As the film progresses, we see the cracks showing on other characters. In the end, no one tells Nai-Nai her future. Billi and her parents head to the airport to return to America with Nai-Nai looking on and waving. After the final scene, the real Nai-Nai’s fate is revealed as well as a video of her.
Themes in this film transcend cultures. I laughed and cried throughout this movie. Nai-Nai reminded me of my father’s mother, Mammaw, pushing food on the kids and grandkids. Like Billi’s family, mine tries to hold on to everyone else’s emotional burden to ease pain.
Everyone in this film acts the hell out of their roles. We see real sadness and frustration, making the viewer feel as if they walked in on a real-life family. The emotion is so organic, I forgot I was in a theater and let my empathy flow out of me in a stream of tears and laughter. Run, don’t walk to see this heartwarming and heartbreaking film starring the multi-talented Awkwafina and take in all the excellent performances from the rest of the cast.
PCL Rating: Tupperware
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: FRESH 🍅
Share this:
Tags: Awkwafina The Farewell, Brooke Daugherty, Lulu Wang, pop culture leftovers, The Farewell 2019, The Farewell Movie
Categorised in: Movie Reviews
This post was written by Leftover Brian
Comments are closed here.