Categories this film falls into:

Comedy
Drama
Dramedy
Feel Good
Foreign - Canada

double happiness (1994)

Jade must decide whether to follow her parents' will or her own dreams.

This is such a great feel good movie. The storytelling is fantastic, the actors are fantastic, the direction is fantastic. All this, plus a story being told by a Chinese-Canadian 20-something who purposefully plays on Asian stereotypes throughout the film.

It's great to have a film set in North America where Asians are not portrayed simply as the corner shopkeeper with only minor roles and no personality. This entire family has personality - and one of the things I love most about films - they are all very human. Mina Shum did a fabulous job of introducing and developing the characters throughout the progression of the film.

If you ever feel like the world is weighing on you, you have no one who truly believes in you, and you have some tough decisions to make, watch this film. It'll make you sit back and take stock and realize, I am the only one to decide my future.

THINGS I LOVE

The film's graceful mix of humor and seriousness. Jade is grappling with serious issues and this film does not make light of them nor does it turn into a bogged down melodrama.
The playing around with Asian stereotypes. Mina Shum weaves stereotypes in and out of the story. One of my favorites is when Jade is auditioning for the part of a waitress and they ask her to use an accent. She asks what kind? Parisian? They just look at her. Or the scene where she uses stereotypes to try and avoid talking to mark outside the club. She pretends not to speak English and puts her hand up to her mouth while giggling.
The brief monologues interspersed into the film by each family member. These were great tools to bring more depth to each of the characters and let you know what is important to them.
Sandra Oh. She shines in the part of Jade. Fantastic.

FAVORITE MOMENTS

The swings. I love the filming of this scene where Jade is swinging and then all of a sudden Mark is on the swings - her realization he is there, etc. The framing is wonderful.
The karoke scene. This one just cracks me up. To see her dad singing along to the music and the rest of them dancing in the living room. It's a great family moment.