This movie made a big sensation when it came out: finally, a movie by Asians, for Asians, about the Asian experience. All true, except for the "crazy rich" part: our middle class American-Chinese heroine is thrown into the middle of Singapore's richest families by her fiancée - who didn't bother to mention that he was part of the wealthiest family in the entire city-state. (Singapore is technically a country, but "city-state" describes it better - and to be "rich" there is to be very, very rich.) Ironically, Wikipedia says "the film did receive some criticism for casting biracial actors over fully ethnically Chinese ones in certain roles." How accurate does a film have to be, I wonder? My complaint is simpler: the movie may represent an Asian experience - but only that of perhaps 0.001% of the population given the incredible wealth of nearly all the characters. But, of course, it's also the point of the movie (that and family).

Constance Wu plays Rachel and Henry Golding plays Nick, her handsome, charming, and - as she finds out rather late in the game - crazy rich boyfriend who takes her to meet his family at his best friend's wedding. Much is made of the craziness of all the people around them, as well as their relatively down-to-earth nature. Many of the characters are massively over-the-top - some comedic, a couple nasty, many a mix of both. It doesn't go quite far enough to be labelled as a "screwball comedy," but these characters manage to remove any hope of the movie ever having any feeling of "realism." And yet the movie manages enough charm, humour, and romance to achieve its goals: it remains enjoyable.