One way to justify a remake is to lean into the aesthetic of a new filmmaker. Even a critically-derided feature like 1997's Psycho is held in higher esteem today than Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes or any of the live-action Disney Animation retreads because filmmaker Gus Van Sant made it unmistakably his. In remaking Ang Lee's The Wedding Banquet, writer/director Andrew Ahn (who penned the script with James Schamus) leans into both making this Banquet more of a queer ensemble piece and leaning into his gift for tender poignancy.
Ahn’s directorial debut Driveways wrung such moving pathos out of intimate corners of everyday life, like a garage sale or sitting on your front steps to converse with a neighbor. Even Fire Island, his wackier party-heavy reimagining of Pride and Prejudice, carved space for quiet moments of effective sentimentality. Ahn knows how to imbue silence with meaning. It’s a talent that makes his Wedding Banquet its own special creation.
Lee (Lily Gladstone) and Angela (Kelly Marie Tran) want to start a family. This couple, who live in Angela's house, are undergoing IVF treatment in hopes of making that dream come true. Fellow Wedding Banquet leads Chris (Bowen Yang) and Min (Han Gi-chan) live in Lee and Angela's garage, with these two men struggling with Chris's inability to commit to anything. There's already a lot for these two sets of lovers to tackle. On top of all that, Min gets a bombshell from his grandma Ja-Young (Youn Yuh-jung) that he's being forced to return to South Korea.
Not wanting to abandon his life and go back into the closet, Min hatches a plan. Angela can pretend to be his wife (complete with going down to City Hall to say “I do”) while Ja-Young is in America. In exchange, Min will pay for the IVF treatment that the cash-strapped Lee and Angela can’t afford. It’s a bizarre scheme, but one that everyone agrees with. All these ultra-queer people trying to pass off as straight is already a challenge. The fact that these circumstances unleash very profound problems in each couple, that’s just another hurdle to face.
A Wedding Banquet doesn’t deviate far from cozy rom-com norms. It’s a chocolate bar you’ve tasted before but delectably baked. Most importantly, Banquet gets tremendous mileage out of securing actors more known for award season dramas than Robert Luketic features. Casting dramatists like Rachel McAdams for wacky comedies can lend delightful conviction to outlandish material. So too can getting arthouse darlings Lily Gladstone and Youn Yuh-jung spice up traditional rom-com narrative elements.
Gladstone especially shines in a role that allows them to exhibit boisterous comedy on-screen. In films ranging from Killers of the Flower Moon to The Unknown Country to Certain Women, Gladstone’s proven remarkable at exuding so much depth with just a facial expression or the smallest flicker of body language. They still display those gifts here, but Schamus and Ahn’s script also gives them plenty of chances to flex her comedic timing in hysterical line deliveries. Lee’s “oh, rad” off-screen comment about the prospect of a couple having “15 non-binary children” alone had me in stitches. An earlier scene of Gladstone stretching their arms and legs to protect a painting while declaring “it ties the room together!” is also a fantastic bit of outsized verbal and physical comedy.
Shocking nobody, Gladstone proves as adept with delivering memorable one-liners as they were at communicating unspoken yearning in Certain Women. Playing opposite Gladstone is the also remarkable Kelly Marie Tran. Angela is a character that suppresses a lot of emotions. When her feelings do come out, they’re jagged and messy. Tran’s sublime at communicating this demeanor and she especially excels at conveying naturalism in Angela’s most vulnerable moments. As a cherry on top, Tran and Gladstone have absolutely riveting chemistry. Any of their intimate scenes of cuddling or whispering “I love you” to each other melted my heart. Conceptually familiar storytelling territory is easily forgivable if it allows for lead performances this extraordinary.
Ahn’s low-key filmmaking sensibilities serve this cast extremely well. In Driveways and Fire Island, Ahn was unafraid to slow things down and just let conversations between lead characters simmer. Here, that approach lets a talented cast make the most out of quiet details other movies would leave on the cutting room floor. A cute early morning moment where Lee sprays Chris with garden hose water, for instance, is lovely and really accentuates their cozy dynamic. Meanwhile, one of the greatest scenes in Schamus and Ahn's screenplay concerns a very raw bathroom discussion between fractured mother/daughter duo Angela and May (Joan Chen).
Ahn and cinematographer Ki Jin Kim wisely play this moment out in just a handful of wide shots. Cuts are minimal here as audiences watch these two souls navigate an emotionally delicate moment practically in real time. The restrained visuals let the visceral emotions of this sequence flourish. Plus, they’re a boon to Tran and Chen performances. Man, Joan Chen. Her work here and in any other Wedding Banquet scene had me constantly going “” The way Chen initially excels as a source of cringe comedy (May is really really really insistent on being the best ally) before becoming such a powerfully moving performer in this bathroom sequence is stunning to behold.
Other Wedding Banquet qualities aren’t nearly as distinctive as Chen’s performance. Chris and Min’s relationship isn’t nearly as compelling as Lee and Angela’s, for one. Yang and Gi-chan’s performances are stellar, but their interior lives just aren’t as fleshed out as the other two lead characters (though I did like the amusing detail of Chris being a gamer and having a specific fixation on Kingdom Hearts). The third act, meanwhile, sometimes comes off as one tragic note getting hit repeatedly. After Ahn incorporated such a distinctive aspect ratio on Fire Island, I wish more Wedding Banquet visual elements had a similar level of idiosyncratic personality. Many of the images here are serviceable but could’ve easily been imbued with more unique lighting or framing.
Still, The Wedding Banquet is a nifty shindig delivering what any reasonable person would want out of a romantic comedy/drama. The laughs are hearty and the poignancy especially hits home. Just try and watch Banquet’s final pre-epilogue sequence and not get a lump in your throat. Emanating such engaging coziness and letting talented artists like Trans, Gladstone, and Chen shine more than justifies The Wedding Banquet’s existence as a remake. In other words, this is not a Len Wiseman’s Total Recall situation, thank goodness.