TO THE BONE // A FILM REVIEW OF "COMING HOME AGAIN"
Everyone deals with death in a different way. It's not always loud and dramatic, and director Wayne Wong, best known for The Joy Luck Club, knows that well, as he slows the grieving down to a quiet murmur in his latest, COMING HOME AGAIN. Wang's filmography is incredibly varied, from his previously mentioned adaptation of Amy Tan's novel to the indie films Smoke and Blue in the Face to the Hollywood rom-com Maid in Manhattan. He tells his stories in a variety of ways, and rarely are two ways the same. Here he aims, and succeeds at, showing a nuanced look at grieving and strikes the perfect balance of humanity without any of the cliches.
Chang-rae (Justin Chon) is a son who leaves his east coast world in the rear view mirror to take care of his ailing mother (Jackie Chung) in San Francisco, essentially becoming her caregiver while his Father (John Lie) continues to work and his sister choses to not return home and help. His mother has stomach cancer and it's clear from the first moment that there is tension and decades of lost moments between them. We mostly stay in the present, exploring only the recent past (such as Chang-rae first learning of the cancer), and exist in the fractured moments of now, while a young son changes his entire life to be with his Mother for what could be her final days. He's unsure of exactly how to take care of her and has little patience for things that seem like a waste of time, such as a church group coming into his mother's apartment to tell her that it's all going to be okay when he knows that it's far from okay. He loses his patience with his father, who chides his sons choices in life. The stress of taking care of his mother begins to eat away at him, as does this feeling of his own lost potential.
The true beauty of COMING HOME AGAIN is all of the small moments, one after another, combined together. It's a searing and soaring film, based on a essay by Chang-Rae Lee (who co-wrote the screenplay with Wang) that delivers two quiet and shattering performances. Justin Chon gives an understated and beautiful performances as Chang-Rae, from the opening moments of him running out his frustration until he can only cry to the contemplative final moments of the film. He's a gripping lead that skillfully lends his reflective eyes into the story. Jackie Chung's performance as the dying Mother is more devastating and full of confusion and hurt. From the moments of her cooking kalbi, Chang-Rae's favorite meal, to not being able to enjoy it when he makes it for her, she takes your breath away with each and every scene. It's very effective that we the audience are not allowed to look away, as many moments stay with one particular character, even as others are interacting (the heartbreaking scene of the Mother trying to eat her sons cooking and failing immediately comes to mind). Wang has crafted a beautiful meditation of loss and we are lucky to be about to soak it all up.
GRADE: B+
WRITTEN BY Wayne Wang, Chang-Rae Lee DIRECTED BY Wayne Wang STARRING Justin Chon, Jackie Chung, Christina July Kim, John Lie Now Playing at Select Cinemas and on Digital Cinemas. For more information: https://www.outsiderpictures.us/movie/coming-home-again/