Review of Ping Pong Playa (2008) by Jonathan E — 27 Feb 2009

I came into the movie not expecting a whole lot from it as a comedy, and to be honest it didn't wow me, but I wasn't as disappointed as I thought I would be.

Is this film funny? Yes it can be at times. Does it have observational humor about Asian Americans? Yes it definitely does. However, it rarely goes beyond that, and where the film certainly had the chance to paint a more striking image of the realities of being Asian American, it chooses to stay unapologetically light. That isn't to say that it's off the mark with its observations: the film just chooses to paint a more lighthearted and less realistic picture. Think of Happy Gilmore but with ping pong, and a modern Asian American perspective.