Review by Jordana Mah

Filmmaker Jessica Yu is more well known for her heavy documentaries about tortured artists (In the Realms of the Unreal) than for comedic flair.  Yet, as the expression goes, don't judge a book by its cover.  In Ping Pong Playa, Yu brings to life the tale of Christopher Wang, a.k.a "C-Dub", a slacker/wannabe-gangsta with failed dreams of basketball stardom and an "Angry Asian Man" complex.  Having lost his job hawking cell phones at the mall, C-Dub is roped into coaching at his family's ping pong school after his mother and ping pong champion older brother are laid up with broken wrists after a car accident.  Familial obligation quickly turns into defending family honour at a local ping pong competition, when a Caucasian rival seeks to steal the school's students.

Yu's direction is snappy and smooth, demonstrating the Oscar winner's expertise.  The film itself is light and fun, with first-time lead actor Jimmy Tsai standing out as a fresh comedic talent.  He is also a triple threat, having starred, co-written, and handled the finances for the film using his skills as an accountant!   While there are the obvious cultural  jokes - such as the  piles of shoes at the door,  and the  Chinese opera-singing father -  Ping Pong Playa manages to rise above being simply an  "ethnic comedy", to being a film with universally appealling themes of  family relationships and underdogs making good.  A pleasant surprise of a movie that, while a little hokey and predictable at times, is a great example of Asian talent in a mainstream story. Not to be missed.

The Vancouver Asian Film Festival will be screening Ping Pong Playa on Saturday November 8 at 9:30pm at the Tinseltown (88 W Pender, Vancouver, BC).