Chinese-American women of three generations (and one far-flung family) pile into an RV and take a roundabout tour of California's deserts and mountains in "My American Vacation", winner of the best dramatic feature prize at 1999's Worldfest Houston.
A well-intentioned but unpolished family film playing at Laemmle's Grande in downtown Los Angeles, "Vacation" (mostly in English, with a few subtitled scenes) is another in the durable genre of East-meets-West comedy-dramas aimed at ethnic audiences but not without its points of interest for the eclectic moviegoer.
Screenwriter-director VV Dachin Hsu (whose feature debut was 1990's "Pale Blood", co-directed with Michael W. Leighton), born in Hong Kong and a UCLA Film School grad, creates a labor of love with the family-themed "Vacation", a movie with light humor, whimsy, turmoil and even physical danger, but nourished to achieve a soothing effect on the viewer, including a structure inspired by tai chi.
Venerable Chinese film, television and stage actress Tsai Chin (Michelangelo Antonioni's "Blowup", ABC's "Fantasy Island", "The Joy Luck Club") stars as Grandma Lee, widowed mother of grown daughters Ming-Yee (Kim Miyori) and Ming-Na (Deborah Nishimura). Bossy and ambitious Ming-Yee, a single mom raising daughter Melissa (Sasha Hsuczyk) to know her divorced father is a "jerk," is delighted to have Grandma come from Taiwan for a visit.
A journalist and happy with husband Henry (Dennis Dun), Ming-Na is younger than her sister and more carefree. She is not that thrilled to play host to nosy Grandma, who arrives with many loaded-with-meaning gifts. The sisters more or less call a truce, and the whole gang, including Henry, decides to acquire a motor home and head to Colorado.
They don't get very far after choosing an expensive model and packing it up for a trip of ill-defined purpose and length of time. The adventurers make it to Joshua Tree, Lake Isabella and finally Sequoia National Forest but never leave California. With The Great Outdoors as a backdrop, several family and personal conflicts are worked out.
Grandma dishes out much wisdom and mediates frequently between the warring sisters.
The writing is overly episodic, the humor is light, the jokes are often predictable, and occasionally the choice of musical accompaniment is questionable, but one can suspend disbelief enough and overlook manipulative devices to enjoy Hsu's "Vacation" largely because of the heartfelt performances.
Ultimately, the spirit of Chin's character prevails during what becomes a nearly disastrous trip. She pens a series of bogus postcards to her friends back home and dreams of her dead husband as a young man (Roger Fan), while hurting every time Ming-Yee and Ming-Na go at each other. What's not to live for?
So it goes, the joys and pains of a family coming together. East saves West and vice versa, with Grandma almost dying during a scene worthy of an old-time western serial. Meanwhile, the shores of the Kern River and the towering sequoias are wonderful settings for the gentle movements of women performing tai chi.
MY AMERICAN VACATION
American Vacation Prods.
Winn Entertainment
in association with CACC Investment
Screenwriter-director:VV Dachin Hsu
Producers:VV Dachin Hsu, Cindy Sison, Frank Gargani
Executive producer:Winston H. Chin
Director of photography:Dean Lent
Production designer:Fu-Ding Cheng
Editors:Marc Grossman, Clarinda Wong
Costume designer:Sheri Grider
Music:Joel Iwataki
Color/stereo
Cast:
Grandma Lee:Tsai Chin
Ming-Yee:Kim Miyori
Ming-Na:Deborah Nishimura
Melissa:Sasha Hsuczyk
Henry:Dennis Dun
Ming-Yee-Ba:Roger Fan
Running time -- 88 minutes
No MPAA rating...
A well-intentioned but unpolished family film playing at Laemmle's Grande in downtown Los Angeles, "Vacation" (mostly in English, with a few subtitled scenes) is another in the durable genre of East-meets-West comedy-dramas aimed at ethnic audiences but not without its points of interest for the eclectic moviegoer.
Screenwriter-director VV Dachin Hsu (whose feature debut was 1990's "Pale Blood", co-directed with Michael W. Leighton), born in Hong Kong and a UCLA Film School grad, creates a labor of love with the family-themed "Vacation", a movie with light humor, whimsy, turmoil and even physical danger, but nourished to achieve a soothing effect on the viewer, including a structure inspired by tai chi.
Venerable Chinese film, television and stage actress Tsai Chin (Michelangelo Antonioni's "Blowup", ABC's "Fantasy Island", "The Joy Luck Club") stars as Grandma Lee, widowed mother of grown daughters Ming-Yee (Kim Miyori) and Ming-Na (Deborah Nishimura). Bossy and ambitious Ming-Yee, a single mom raising daughter Melissa (Sasha Hsuczyk) to know her divorced father is a "jerk," is delighted to have Grandma come from Taiwan for a visit.
A journalist and happy with husband Henry (Dennis Dun), Ming-Na is younger than her sister and more carefree. She is not that thrilled to play host to nosy Grandma, who arrives with many loaded-with-meaning gifts. The sisters more or less call a truce, and the whole gang, including Henry, decides to acquire a motor home and head to Colorado.
They don't get very far after choosing an expensive model and packing it up for a trip of ill-defined purpose and length of time. The adventurers make it to Joshua Tree, Lake Isabella and finally Sequoia National Forest but never leave California. With The Great Outdoors as a backdrop, several family and personal conflicts are worked out.
Grandma dishes out much wisdom and mediates frequently between the warring sisters.
The writing is overly episodic, the humor is light, the jokes are often predictable, and occasionally the choice of musical accompaniment is questionable, but one can suspend disbelief enough and overlook manipulative devices to enjoy Hsu's "Vacation" largely because of the heartfelt performances.
Ultimately, the spirit of Chin's character prevails during what becomes a nearly disastrous trip. She pens a series of bogus postcards to her friends back home and dreams of her dead husband as a young man (Roger Fan), while hurting every time Ming-Yee and Ming-Na go at each other. What's not to live for?
So it goes, the joys and pains of a family coming together. East saves West and vice versa, with Grandma almost dying during a scene worthy of an old-time western serial. Meanwhile, the shores of the Kern River and the towering sequoias are wonderful settings for the gentle movements of women performing tai chi.
MY AMERICAN VACATION
American Vacation Prods.
Winn Entertainment
in association with CACC Investment
Screenwriter-director:VV Dachin Hsu
Producers:VV Dachin Hsu, Cindy Sison, Frank Gargani
Executive producer:Winston H. Chin
Director of photography:Dean Lent
Production designer:Fu-Ding Cheng
Editors:Marc Grossman, Clarinda Wong
Costume designer:Sheri Grider
Music:Joel Iwataki
Color/stereo
Cast:
Grandma Lee:Tsai Chin
Ming-Yee:Kim Miyori
Ming-Na:Deborah Nishimura
Melissa:Sasha Hsuczyk
Henry:Dennis Dun
Ming-Yee-Ba:Roger Fan
Running time -- 88 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 3/27/2000
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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