American Fusion

First-time director Frank Lin has fashioned a great little comedy about the difficulties of relationships across cultural and racial boundaries. Yvonne, a Chinese divorcée pushing fifty with a young son pretending to be black, is a virtual household slave to her domineering, old-school mother who constantly demeans her for not being more successful with her life. When she meets a handsome dentist while on assignment doing an interview for a newspaper, her life suddenly regains its promise. But complication arise in the form of not just her mother, but her entire family, who think that a Mexican named Jose is a totally unacceptable match for a Chinese woman. ("Hosin? That means Monkey!") When Yvonne's mother gets a back injury from a massage mishap and needs surgery, Yvonne starts to believe that her chances for romance are indeed over. American Fusion is a very funny film, well written and very well acted. All the characters are believable, and the clash of an ancient Chinese tradition with American reality makes for some very humorous and touching moments. With a cameo from Fabio and excellent work from Frank Morita, this film should be a crossover success, and deserves wide distribution. 8.5/10