IMDb > Catfish in Black Bean Sauce (1999)

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Catfish in Black Bean Sauce (1999) -- ...raised by an African American couple, a Vietnamese brother and sister are reunited with their birth mother.
Catfish in Black Bean Sauce (1999) -- Trailerfan.com - Trailer (Flash)

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Overview

User Rating:
6.5/10   312 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?

Up 7% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.

Director:

Chi Muoi Lo

Writer (WGA):

Chi Muoi Lo (written by)

Contact:

View company contact information for Catfish in Black Bean Sauce on IMDbPro.

Release Date:

9 June 2000 (USA) more

Genre:

Comedy | Drama more

Tagline:

...raised by an African American couple, a Vietnamese brother and sister are reunited with their birth mother. more

Plot:

Dwayne and his older sister Mai are adults: Mai is married to Vinh, Dwayne is about to propose to Nina... more | add synopsis

Awards:

4 wins & 1 nomination more

User Comments:

Bravo to Chi Muoi Lo. It's a heartwarming pot of diversity all spliced, diced and spiced up. more (15 total)


Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Chi Muoi Lo ... Dwayne Williams / Sap

Sanaa Lathan ... Nina
Paul Winfield ... Harold Williams
Mary Alice ... Dolores Williams

Lauren Tom ... Mai
Kieu Chinh ... Thanh

Tyler Christopher ... Michael

Tzi Ma ... Vinh
George Wallace ... James

Wing Chen ... Samantha
Amy Tran ... Young Mai
Kevin Lo ... Young Dwayne

Kevin D'Arcy ... Guard #1
Andre Rosey Brown ... Guard #2 (as Rosey Brown)
Ron Galbraith ... Doctor
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Additional Details

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language and sexual content.

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:PG-13


Fun Stuff

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Slanted Screen (2006) more


FAQ

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2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful.
Bravo to Chi Muoi Lo. It's a heartwarming pot of diversity all spliced, diced and spiced up., 9 July 2000
7/10
Author: Ruby Liang (ruby_fff) from sf, usa

Paul Winfield and Mary Alice together -- what a pairing! That's worth the ticket already. Good for Chi Muoi Lo, thank goodness to his perseverance and passion, we get to see his fruit of labor and love: CATFISH IN BLACK BEAN SAUCE. The ingredients are strong emotional (and controversial) subjects. What an ensemble cast, including himself in the center of this multi-layered drama. It may feel like he packed it all in, yet we get to taste and soak it all.

Bold strokes for a first time filmmaker, Chi Muoi Lo, who produced (practically with the help of the whole Lo family as indicated in the credit roll), wrote the script, directed the film, and performed in it as the central character, the adopted Vietnamese son Dwayne. Wonderful strong cast with Mary Alice and Paul Winfield as Dolores and Harold, the kind-hearted adoptive couple who took in his sister along with Dwayne. Lauren Tom, as Dwayne's Vietnamese sister Mai, gave a steady restrained performance, especially a critical scene shared with Mary Alice -- the intensity, the dramatic charge built up between the two women -- sensitive anticipatory confrontation yet tear-jerking all together. Story is told in current times, fantasy-dream mode, and childhood flashbacks. At times scenes may seem like cliché, yet we laughed, we're anxious, we smiled with empathy, and we're hooked into the whirl of it all. There's also Sanaa Lathan (of "Love and Basketball" 2000) as Mia, the lovely yet hesitant girl friend whom Dwayne was courting -- yes, romance included.

It's a spicy dish -- a real mix of various types and levels of relationships: mother-son, mother-daughter, brother-sister, Asian-Black, husband-wife, roommates, in-laws, young loves -- diversity filled to the brim and steaming hot! Warmth and conflicts, misforgivings and forgivings, a lot of heart! See it to taste it.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Catfish in Black Bean Sauce (1999)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Great actors.... VietDo
i am wondering if director himself wrote all the comments? davidscott_238
Dwayne speaking in ebonics cracks me up! Angie_D
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