Review of The Princess of Nebraska (2008) by Kenneth L — 04 Apr 2014

This is the seventh film I've seen by Wayne Wang, and it's honestly probably his worst (either this or Maid in Manhattan - they're bad in different ways). It's got the veneer of a gritty, realistic indie film and all the unassuming minimalism that comes with that, but honestly not much else.

The story follows a young pregnant Chinese woman (Ling Li) who comes to San Francisco to possible get an abortion. While there, she stays with the white male ex-lover of the (apparently bisexual) Chinese man who got her pregnant. She meets a prostitute, and they hang out for a while. That's kind of it. The movie doesn't have much of a plot, which isn't necessarily a problem, except it doesn't have much of anything else either. The acting is awkward and honestly kind of amateurish at points. The cinematography is often handheld and in extreme closeup, but for no discernible reason. There are shots taken from the main character's 2007 cellphone, which are different but don't really add much. Even the sound mixing is bad sometimes. The film never resolves its one mildly interesting plot question, and ends on a hollow, pretentious non-ending that really did not land for me. Wayne Wang's filmography is all over the place - in terms of style, budget, subject matter, and quality - but of all his varied films I've seen so far, this one does seem to have the least to offer.