The Farewell

 1.5/4

Starring: Awkwafina, Shuzhen Zhao, Tzi Ma, Diana Lin

Rated PG for Thematic Material, Brief Language and Some Smoking

Although "The Farewell" isn't really a comedy, it feels like a one-joke movie.  The premise doesn't drive the plot, it is the plot.  Rather than using an intriguing idea as a jumping off point, it repeats the idea ad nauseam for 100 minutes.  The result, rather than the bittersweet tale it so clearly aspires to be, is a boring and inert snoozefest.

Billi (Awkwafina) is a 30 something living in New York.  She's very close to her grandmother Nai Rai (Zhao), who lives in China.  That's when her dad drops a bombshell: Nai Nai has stage four lung cancer, and has only four months or so to live.  Billi is understandably devastated, but her parents drop another unpleasant truth upon her: they're keeping the diagnosis a secret from her so she to can live out her last days in blissful ignorance of her impending mortality.  Billi is outraged, but agrees to participate in the deception.  Nai Rai believes that everyone is in town for a wedding, when in reality they're there to say their goodbyes.

I have no doubt that Lulu Wang sincerely wanted to make a perceptive dreamed about how to deal with such a situation.  After all, it's based on true events from her life.  It's just that Wang never finds a successful way to express her feelings.  The film has one note to play, and it's hammered in over and over again. Sure, Billi is conflicted about hiding the truth and no one can keep it together, but so what?  That's evident in the first 15 minutes, and the movie doesn't have anything else to say.

The cast admirably gives it their all, but they don't have a lot to work with.  Awkwafina shows some dramatic chops that make it clear she can do more than be comic relief.  Respected Chinese actress Shuzhen Zhao has a lot of energy but Wang doesn't take advantage of her performance to allow the warm and loving side of Nai Rai to come out.  Nai Nai has a personality, but usually she's seen at a distance.

Wang tries a lot of bizarre things to try and disguise the fact that the movie doesn't go anywhere.  Bizarre musical interludes (one of which feels like a reference to "Reservoir Dogs") and scenes that go on long after they made their point are just some of the things she does.  This movie is a gimmick and nothing else.  And no amount of visual trickery or auteur-like shenanigans can change that.

It's a shame, really.  The idea has merit as food for thought, but other than an examination of the cultural divide (in the West, the right of the individual is paramount, but in the East family concerns take precedence), Wang doesn't do anything with it.  There's no real conflict here.  Sure, it's debatable what the right thing to do is, but that's not enough to sustain the plot of a movie.  Movies about characters in stasis or with a psychological conflict are fine, but even in those movies there has to be dramatic tension.  The characters have to have some sort of goal or inner drive.  There's none of that here, and that means boredom.

Do yourself a favor.  If you're curious about the issue at the heart of "The Farewell," gather some friends over and talk about it over a bottle of wine. It would be a much better use of your time than watching "The Farewell."