Rating: PG13
Genre:
Comedy Drama
Release Date: 04/17/2007
Dubbed: English
Sound: DDS2.0
Run Time: 87 Minutes
Distributor/Studio: Image
Family ghosts, generational conflict, and the immigrant experience frame this episodic
comedy-
drama about a Chinese-born Canadian woman's quest for self-definition, which marked the debut of writer/director
Mina Shum.
Jade Li (
Sandra Oh), an aspiring actress in her early twenties, lives at home with her strict father (
Stephen Chang), her dutiful mother (
Alannah Ong), and her sweet younger sister,
Pearl (
Frances You). Their older brother,
Winston, has been disowned -- a fate
Jade is not eager to share, both for her own sake and to spare her family pain. Therefore, although she manages to land a few bit parts on camera,
Jade spends most of her time working in the shop owned by a family friend, performing the duties of a respectful daughter and suffering through arranged dates with prosperous young Chinese men. An adept cultural chameleon, though, she also leads a double life, hanging out with best friend
Lisa (
Claudette Carracedo) and beginning a tentative romance with Caucasian college student
Mark (
Callum Keith Rennie). When her father's childhood friend arrives for a visit, however,
Jade must juggle her competing identities even more carefully than usual, lest her choice of professions -- and boyfriends -- shame her father. After premiering at the
1994 Toronto International Film Festival,
Double Happiness won several international awards and made its U.S. bow at
Sundance in 1995. Writer/director
Shum -- who, like her protagonist, was born in Hong Kong but raised in Canada -- appears briefly on camera as a casting director who doesn't think
Jade is Chinese enough.
Oh, who is actually of Korean descent, won a best actress Genie Award (the Canadian equivalent of an Oscar) for her portrayal of
Jade. The part of
Dad Li marked a departure for
Chang, a frequent
martial arts movie villain and real-life friend of
Bruce Lee.
~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
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