The Link Entertainment

Connecting.Curating.Creating The Culture

Review: Eddie Huang’s ‘Boogie’

IMG_2038

AMC Theaters

Share

SPOILER ALERT!

‘Boogie’ written and directed by Eddie Huang, writer of ‘Fresh Off the Boat,’ was good but not great. While audiences get a nationwide film showing the stress of being raised in an Asian family, this film comes off as subpar. The movie is about an 18-year-old Asian kid trying to get into the NBA. However, his parents are at odds as to how. 

At the beginning of this movie, there are many reasons to dislike Boogie, played by Taylor Takahashi. He was entitled, selfish, and obsessed with getting into the NBA to appease his father. However, getting into the NBA was supposed to be a meal ticket for Boogie’s family to make a decent living. However, the main character, Boogie, is faced with what most, if not all, immigrant children have to deal with, pleasing their family. 

He swore his mom hated him though she felt that she was doing her best, without noting the father has been in and out of jail during his childhood. 

Boogie’s father has him obsessed with beating Monk, played by the late great Pop Smoke, the number one player in the Burroughs. He annoys Eleanor, played by actress Taylour Paige, to the point that they start dating.

The movie is predictable after the first twenty minutes. It was not hard to figure out Eleanor slept with Monk, and Boogie would go back to the fortune-teller. 

boogie-2

If anything is to be taken away from it, Boogie’s character helps expand on how Asian Americans are viewed on television. The fact that the main character is a basketball player is groundbreaking in cinema. Also, there is emotional depth when it comes to the parents. However, one issue is the violence displayed between the family throughout the movie; It could be concerning.

With that being said, it is nice to see a movie that had an Asian lead while showing family traditions, culture, and pride. It’s easy to see that this movie is not for everybody, and there’s nothing wrong with that. What is wrong is though Huang has years of writing expertise, what should have been a masterpiece read more as coming to age story like ‘The Catcher in the Rye.’ 

So should you watch it? Yes. But one time is enough. 

Rating: 3.5/5

About Author