Even in the realm of indie films, remakes are becoming more and more common. But that doesn’t mean they have no reason to exist. Case in point, director/co-writer Andrew Ahn (“Driveways,” “Fire Island”) and co-writer James Schamus (“Eat Drink Man Woman,” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”) have updated Schamus and Ang Lee’s original 90s indie romance for a more modern queer era. The result is a film that feels less like a remake and more like a film taking the bones of a previous work and crafting something of its own.
Angela Chen, played by Kelly Marie Tran (“Raya and the Last Dragon,” “Star Wars: The Last Jedi”), and her partner Lee, played by Lily Gladstone (“Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Under the Bridge”), share a house in Seattle with their two best friends and fellow couple Chris, played by Bowen Yang (“Fire Island,” “Wicked”), and Min, played by Han Gi-han (“Where Your Eyes Linger,” “Dare to Love Me”). After Min learns that his student visa is expiring and he must return to Korea to run his family’s company or risk being financially cut off, he devises a plan: a wedding between himself and Angela to both secure a green care for himself and trick his grandmother Ja Young, played by Youn Yuh-ung (“Minari,” “Pachinko”), in exchange for paying for in vitro fertilization for Lee to have a baby.
Ahn’s direction is one of the film’s biggest strengths, as his ability to simply allow his actors to slowly simmer and boil over is put to great use here. The same borderline catty behavior that worked to incite conflict in his previous work “Fire Island” works wonders here, as the main quartet seems to revel in simply being messy, complicated people. Gladstone is a particularly goofy highlight, showcasing her expected dramatic skills with flourishes of a yet unseen comedic ability. Tran is much the same, and she and Yang are an exceptionally fun and extremely messy pairing that lights up the screen at every turn. Meanwhile, Gi-han is the heart of the entire film, managing to pull off a remarkably effective dramatic turn even as he consistently turns out the silliest, and borderline childish, performance of the film. Yuh-ung is also a powerfully understated performer here, and the film lets her play outside of her expected role in ways not spoiled here.
Schamus and Ahn make the most of this remake material by expanding the previous film’s plot instead of simply rehashing it. By introducing a second couple into the fray, it expands the material to encompass and embrace more of its queer identity and therefore makes for a more interesting film as a result. By the time it's over, the titular wedding is hardly a real focus, and it's not hard to see this film existing with a different title as its own wholly original work. The film seems almost determined to present itself exactly like you’d expect from a rom com like this and then immediately turn itself into something completely different.
If there are any disappointments, it's that despite being shot by Ki Jin Kim (“Driveways,” “Holy Emy”), whom Ahn has worked with before, it's a fairly plain looking film. It never showcases the beauty of Seattle like “Fire Island” did for its central location, resulting in a film that, for as charming as its cast is, lacks a strong visual identity. What it doesn’t lack is a great musical score from composer Jay Wadley (“i’m thinking of ending things,” “Fire Island”) which, coupled with some fun needle drops, helps make up for the film’s plain visual stylings.
A remake of “The Wedding Banquet” might not seem necessary, especially given where this film divulges from the original, but Andrew Ahn and James Schamus take plenty of steps to separate this film from the original in ways that matter. It’s cast is excellent and endlessly charming, and the film takes pride in allowing each character to be complicated and messy. It results in a film that stretches a bit further outside the bounds of what a film like this would initially be expected to be, and its a charming tale as a result. 4/5
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