Saving Face (2005, DVD)

There s a lot to be said for channel surfing; you never know what you might find in between Paid Advertising and the weirdness that accounts for a lot television these days. In my case I ran across a perfectly charming movie about budding, charming love story called Saving Face (2004). Written and directed by new comer Alice Wu, Saving Face follows a brief period in the life of a young first generation gay Chinese-American doctor (resident), and her mother. The former struggles with her sexuality and the latter tries to find her place in American society after her husband dies and her father..

In SAVING FACE, first time Writer/Director Alice Wu has created an engaging comedy-drama in what may be soon known as "The New York Ethnic Lesbian/Conflicted "If-She-Will-Marry" Sub-Genre." A Big Tent of the full troubled-wedding genre might include ANYTHING BUT LOVE, HAPPY ACCIDENTS, THE JOY LUCK CLUB, MAMBO ITALIANO, MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING, WHAT'S COOKING? WISEGIRLS and KISSING JESSICA STEIN, etc. No doubt too predictable in certain areas, SAVING FACE has plot twists and insights which make it entertaining and worthwhile. Its great strength is that it fields a competent cast and tells a...

THE PLOT Wil (Michelle Krusiec) is a young Chinese-American woman who suffers the usual clich s although she s a successful surgeon, her mother (Joan Chen) keeps trying to set her up with nice young Chinese men, not knowing, or not admitting that her daughter is actually a lesbian. Meanwhile, breaking new stereotypes, her mother, a widow and single-parent for many years, becomes pregnant. Since she was originally living with her own aging parents and refuses to divulge the identity of the father, she has no choice but to move in with her grown daughter. Having a new girlfriend herself, the...