Even allowing that Ahn is taking Ang Lee's material in a very different direction, The Wedding Banquet 2.0 is lackluster. I haven't seen any of Ahn's previous films, but I wasn't impressed with the filmmaking here. If it were overtly a farce, some of the emotionally improbable or flat-out silly aspects might be permissible.

But mostly Ahn is going for drama, and it would take a much more patient kind of director to make that work. Character decisions are reduced…

[6]

I miss the old Kiyoshi. The can't-be-sold Kiyoshi. Back in the fold Kiyoshi. That was the bold Kiyoshi. Cure Kiyoshi? That wasn't your Kiyoshi? 'Cause that was my Kiyoshi. Damn, that was fly, Kiyoshi! You came with Kairo, Kiyoshi. That shit was fire, Kiyoshi! Even Bright Future Kiyoshi, that ill repute Kiyoshi. I dug it all, Kiyoshi. So why'd you stall, Kiyoshi? And then that Journey to the Shore? You got some gall, Kiyoshi!

I miss the real…