Boogie

I had such high hopes for this film. I seriously don't think basketball scholarships are the #1 issue for Asian families. Would have been more believable if the parents were against Boogie's dream to play ball, but instead, Boogie was just a good player...not the best with family struggles.

This film tells a story that is best understood under a lens of an understanding of the Chinese culture. It is an engaging story.

While for the most part Boogie may seem like a tonally confused, mess of a film, I find it to be more or less saved by its incredible amount of passion, great characters, and the few good actors that portray them. Especially Taylour Paige whose performance is as good if not better than her's in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. Can't wait for Zola.

"It makes me think if we really have meaning in our life or if we are just playing a game."

Boogie is the coming-of-age story of Alfred "Boogie" Chin, a basketball phenom living in Queens, New York, who dreams of one day playing in the NBA. While his parents pressure him to focus on earning a scholarship to an elite college, Boogie must find a way to navigate a new girlfriend, high school, on-court rivals and the burden of expectation. In theory this does sound like a good idea. I like the exploration of heritage and navigating through life. The script does have some fine dialogue that motivates this. But as a whole, Boogie is more of a disappointment. I can't really say disappointment since I went into this hardly any knowledge of what it would be about. The beginning sets-up nicely. It felt like it would be a feel-good sort of movie. Everything just seems to go on repeat after a while. Not necessarily in plot but rather characters.

The characters are the biggest issue here. I found all of them to be intolerable. There are hardly any good traits to be found. Boogie is a foolish person that only cares about sports. Usually you see change when it comes to character, but I saw little to no change here. I understand some of what he wants, but I just got annoyed by him. The movie is pretty boring since there's not much change. It felt more like I was watching than experiencing. At times I did feel entertained, but then it would fall back into the slump. Once again, the script isn't too bad and has all the right topics, but with the predictability and annoying characters, Boogie becomes something to be forgotten.

The camera crew knew what they were doing. It's well-shot, I'll give it that much. The writing it bad, the direction is bad. I'm assuming Eddie Huang either has money, or knows people with money, because that's the only way slop like this gets financed. The lead is sullen, almost everyone is unappealing, and there's zero tension. Even the clichéd final game lacks any sort of suspense. It's clear that the only reason this got a theatrical release is the pandemic has made theaters desperate for product and better films still want to make some money, so they're waiting. This is filler. Wait for it to show on some streaming service, then skip it.