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February 9, 2003

The Joy Luck Club (1993)

The Joy Luck Club is a tear-jerker that sometimes comes off as blatantly and shamelessly manipulative. If you can get past the manipulation, you'll have to overcome some expository dialog that assumes an audience of dullards, with key plot points and bits of dialog witlessly echoed by characters for no apparent reason.

There's no taking away from the lushness of the film's visuals, or the overall quality of the production, but it eventually devolves into mere spectacle as the melodrama and leaden exposition turn it into a costume pageant that periodically cannibalizes the principals to turn them into a chorus.

Comments

Posted by: shi at November 30, 2003 7:05 PM