Crazy Rich Asians (2018) * *

Directed by:  Jon M. Chu

Starring:  Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Gemma Chan, Michelle Yeoh, Awkafina, Ken Jeong, Chris Pang, Pierre Png

Crazy Rich Asians has rich Asians to be sure, but not crazy.   Crazy would be a step up from the safe, dull people we meet here.    Crazy Rich Asians contains a lot of fashion, bling, excesses, and painful attempts at manufacturing suspense in the form of a wealthy Singapore matriarch (Yeoh) disapproving of her son's future fiancée.    The buildup is unconvincing enough.   The payoff, in which the fiancée turns the tables, is even less satisfying.    Who knew mom would be such a pushover? 

Those who are enthralled with the wealth on full display will no doubt be satiated by the mansions, parties, dresses, suits, and flashy excess we witness here.    Think of Sex and the City taking its high fashion to Singapore.    The journey to Singapore begins in New York as economics professor Rachel (Wu) and her sleek boyfriend Nick (Golding) discuss flying to Singapore for his cousin's wedding.    Despite dating for nearly a year, Rachel had no idea Nick was a member of one of Asia's wealthiest families.    She soon finds out when he has two first class tickets comped for him on an international airline.    "My family does business with the airline," Nick coyly tells Rachel.  

Once they arrive in Singapore, Rachel is the subject of endless speculation, hostility, staring, and outright jealousy from family members and friends.    How did this seemingly ordinary woman land Nick, one of the wealthiest bachelors in the world?    Nick's mother Eleanor (Yeoh) is still stinging from Nick's refusal to move back home and take over the family business in favor of courting Rachel.    As one guy tells Nick, "you are untouchable, Rachel is not,"   Eleanor acts cruelly toward Rachel under the guise of civility and makes it quite clear she and Nick will never be married on her watch.    The odd thing is Eleanor went through the same thing when she married her husband (who is unseen and "away on business" during the wedding), but yet doesn't give Rachel a break or empathize with her.    Things didn't turn out so bad for Eleanor, so what makes her think Rachel won't be ok either? 

Crazy Rich Asians' attempt at conflict is flabby enough.    To say it doesn't take much to force Eleanor's inevitable change of heart is putting it mildly.    And there is no way anyone who has ever seen a romantic comedy before can chide me for giving away a spoiler.    Such central conflicts have built-in spoilers.     Yeoh, a veteran of action films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, is shoehorned into the villain role.    She does her best, but her actions are at the whim of the story.    She is a meddling creep until she suddenly isn't.

Crazy Rich Asians has a fun supporting performance by Awkwafina, who plays Rachel's best friend and a subplot involving Nick's cousin's marriage to an average guy and the tension it ultimately causes.   The movie misses an opportunity to use this thread to parallel Nick and Rachel, and doesn't give this subplot the heft it deserves.    Their relationship is more honest and real than Nick's and Rachel's, but it gets short shrift in favor of the less appealing storyline and the wealth porn on display.