Minari is director Lee Isaac-Chun's refined version of his childhood growing up in small town Arkansas in the mid-80s. His early years are spent living with his grandparents and older family, which is the theme for much of the film. The story follows Minari (Asian American actress Jing Shiroyama), a very shy and bookish girl who tends to get picked on at school. She is also known for her sweet talking skills.
One day, she goes to visit her friend's house where her younger sister is being homeschooled. While there, she overhears her friends talking about their date. This experience spurs her curiosity about dating and she decides that she wants to go out on a date with her crush. Shortly thereafter, she ends up losing her best friend to the boy she was dating.
This movie has been praised by critics and is one of the few animated films that actually gets points for animation. In this movie, the movements are quite fluid and it seems as though they are animated. Minari is a very wise and strong-willed girl and throughout the movie, we see her fighting off the bullies at school. The way the story is told is very artistic, yet comical. There are some adult content that will get anyone laughing, but it is not graphic in any way.
Minari is directed by Chun Li (Kung Fu Panda) and produced by DreamWorks Animation. The film has received positive reviews from many critics, but some people think that the movie is too slow. Others have pointed out that the plot is predictable. However, some people seem to find fault with the movie's overall message it sends to Asian Americans.
The movie itself is very entertaining. There is humor, action, romance, and most of all, it is a coming of age story. It follows Minari (Kang Hong-Sul) who after being taken away as a child in communist China becomes an adult in San Francisco. She now works as a waitress in a Chinese restaurant, but on her day off, she decides to visit her old friend Minh (Chin Lee), who she accidentally ran into when she was younger and fell in love with.
Minh is the typical Asian American teenager going through puberty. She has a crush on Minari and wants to date her. Minari's mother disapproves of their relationship, but Minari still desperately wants to date the girl. On her last day of school, Minari stumbles into a dumpy old house where a little girl named Rhapsody (Sandra Oh), who is the spitting image of Minari's dead mother, is home. Rhapsody is more than happy to date Minari, but unfortunately, she too is from a poor family and is not wealthy. To add insult to injury, Minari winds up falling in love with Rhapsody.
This movie is based off of the best-selling book, "Chinese Puzzle" by Kang Hsu, and it is a very entertaining movie. The movie follows Minari as she tries to make ends meet by working odd jobs in various cities across the country. One day, Minari gets a call from Rhapsody telling her that she can have all of the money Minari needs for her wedding if she will marry him. This leads Minari to run into a Chinese restaurant in New York City, where she sees a very wealthy Chinese man (Jared Rushton) who wants to marry Minari in order to bring her to America.
This movie review was include my personal opinion about the movie. It's a good movie that I would recommend to anyone. It's a film that's not just intended to be romance and comedy, but it also contains some very touching scenes that makes it a very romantic film for women. If you are looking for a romantic Asian movie, then this is definitely a movie that you should look into.
