“East Bay” opens with 39-year-old Jack Lee (Daniel Yoon) lamenting his lack of life and filmmaking success from his childhood to the present day. As a child he desperately prayed to God to make him successful. We watch God, an elder bearded Caucasian, throughout the film snickering at the misguided humans and at one point taking a smoke break. God is very human indeed. At points the film becomes less of a comedy and an exploration of spirituality, its misuse and misinterpretation. Even those who have a relationship with God are no happier than those lacking spirituality. The evident message of the film, if there is serious one, is that spirituality is a belief in humanity and being the best person one can be.
Can we blame Jack’s parents for being “dragon parents” relentlessly driving their children to succeed which means financial success shunting aside any possibility of a mental health collapse unfortunately common amongst “driven children” in South Korea. Jack’s mother makes a comment in the film worthy of serious consideration saying our generation coming to the United States from Korea had to struggle for survival which was not so much an issue for their children today who have an equally hard time of trying to be successful and happy. Jack, making his film “The Only Thing Real”, muses that success is overcoming adversity and becoming happy and that is the point of the film he is making.
Jack’s previous films have focused on Asian ethnic stereotypes and have been failures and he only finds success in a film that delves into spirituality as he has witnessed it with his girlfriends, parents and friends.
The film is a combination of excellent acting, writing and casting. Yoon is perfectly cast as an unhappy self doubter. Kavi Ramachandrian Ladnier sparkles as a 1-800 credit card mystic-temptress with a short temper. His hockey buddies and roommates Tim (Edmund Sim) and Stuart (Destry Miller) are lost in their world one addicted to weed and the other gaming. Melissa Pond as Beth is a kooky two-timer Christian that is off the narrow path and convinced she is going to hell. Sara (Constance Wu) sparkles and saves Jack from perdition with her undying belief in the power of simply being a good person. Every actor in this film is a star a very rare observation on my part! And yes Canadians will identify with shinny hockey somewhat of a crucial component of the film.
A film that melds subtle and overt comedy with some serious and valid observations on the nature of spirituality and success.
Yoon in addition to his starring role is director and writer and excels in all these categories.
“East Bay” will be released in theatres in the United States on 26April2024 and as of 31May2024. Perhaps it is a bit too esoteric to be a commercial success as “Crazy Rich Asians” and that is a shame as a film it addresses spirituality in a nonthreatening and straightforward fashion.
RKS 2024 Film Rating 91/100.
You can watch the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUwSL7vuVT0
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