Chinatown Views: Our Review of ‘Lucky Grandma’

Chinatown Views: Our Review of ‘Lucky Grandma’

Tsai Chin has had an interesting career, starring in two Bond movies as well as in Memoirs of a Geisha. Lucky Grandma finally puts her at the forefront, as she plays Grandma Wong, a New York Chinatown resident. She visits a fortune teller who tells her of her luck, reminiscent of the tarot scene in Cleo from 5 to 7. She then tries her, well, luck in a casino trip. Gambling is a pastime that brings out anxiety within some audiences, but we see these scenes unfold in the perspective of Sasie Sealy.

Sealy, the co-writer and director, does her best to downplay that aspect of the movie with popping visuals and an eclectic soundtrack. Lucky Grandma shows the ups and downs of gambling and, obviously, life. Grandma Wong gains and loses at the casino, her final win coming at a place she does not expect. At the bus ride home, she sits next to a man who belongs to the Red Dragon gang who dies in his sleep. This is normally a horrifying scenario, but this gangster has a bag of money which she takes.

The movie, then, is about the consequences of taking that money. Those consequences include visits from Red Dragon member Little Handsome (Michael Tow). Grandma Wong, despite of her vulnerable position, is still an elder and thus, the movie gives us a character who has a calcified look on matters both Chinese and the world at large. She justifies taking someone else’s money with the same authority as she has in her cooking. Even smaller scenes where she debates using or not using anise on chicken highlights so much of her character’s views.

Although sometimes, it feels like this is a collection of those small scenes. This then becomes a hangout movie where Grandma Wong spends time with a bodyguard, Big Pong (Ha Hsiao-yuan). The contrasts here are obvious, a big and tall bodyguard next to a petite older woman, the latter stronger than the former. And of course, one of their hangout sessions have them watching a Chinese soap about disguises. Her unchanging viewpoints also serve as a problem.

Because that means that Grandma Wong does not have to change that radically. The character that changes the most is Big Pong, who evinces symptoms of depression after he kills one of the gangsters chasing Grandma Wong. It seems like they are the two characters that the film bothers to develop. Also, the former almost steals the film from the latter until it adds other characters into the mix. But even those other characters only get one scene to make their mark.

Although as much as the film needed more time to develop those supporting characters, there is a third that it fleshes out. As cheesy as this sounds, that third character is Chinatown, a neighborhood that it shows through its details and infrastructure. Grandma Wong navigates the neighborhood of shops where anything can happen. People’s lives are at stake because of actions that she justifies. Grandma Wong is a complex character, and this film puts enough stakes here to threaten her survival.

Catch your fortune with Lucky Grandma at Paradise‘s Virtual Theatre.

  • Release Date: 5/23/2020
This post was written by
While Paolo Kagaoan is not taking long walks in shrubbed areas, he occasionally watches movies and write about them. His credentials are as follows: he has a double major in English and Art History. This means that, for example, he will gush at the art direction in the Amityville house and will want to live there, which is a terrible idea because that house has ghosts. Follow him @paolokagaoan on Instagram but not while you're working.
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