Province 77

A doubtless sincere attempt to portray the social and cultural difficulties facing hard-working Thais trying to make a living for themselves in the New World: Los Angeles, that is – South Central by the looks of it. So their family restaurant is infected by local lowlifes. And few slouch lower than Jeremy Thana's knuckle-scraping bling-bling gang-banger Goldie. To help out the family business' tax problems, Mike Kingpayom makes the mistake of getting involved with Goldie's drug-dealing schemes. Fortunately, head-down Pete Thongchua is the restaurant dishwasher – you know, like Steven Seagal saying "I'm just the cook" in Under Siege. The bilingual script (by Martin S. Gonzalez) comically overdoses on Anglo-Saxon expletives for the American characters. Director Smith Timsawat provided the story and edited the movie, so the buck presumably stops with him. It's a simplistic little B-picture, attractively shot and apparently seduced by the decadent lifestyle it tries to decry. "Across the world we exist," proclaims an end-title, signalling a seriousness of intent that's belied by the sporadic action.