Domingo de Páscoa

Wanted so bad for this movie to be great. I typically love Comedies about Family. This was so bad! I was surprised, I expected more. There were a couple of small chuckles..no real belly laughs. The movie is more about Jo Koy's character than the Family. I also thought they would have more Lou Diamond Phillips in it. However,he had a small part. Tiffany Hadish has a small part in it and she was pretty funny..but could have been in it longer. It was great to see Tia Carrere, she did well with the few lines that she had. All in all a total miss. Which is ashamed because I have always like Jo Koy and thought he would bring it. Maybe next time, because he is talented.

Someone mentioned it's an hour and a half sitcom, and it probably is but it provided a steady stream of chuckles, laughs, cringes, "hmmm???", "whaaattt???" and a window into a different culture as well as the west coast point of view (I'm East Coast). Plus it finishes off nicely. It's a good night out that will leave you with a smile on your face after you've left. Enjoy.

I'm a HUGE Jo Koy fan and was really looking forward to his first feature film, but unfortunately it wasn't great. If you've never seen Jo's stand up act, you will likely enjoy this film a bit more since many of the jokes in the movie are recycled from his shows. The supporting cast was good, with a great cameo by Lou Diamond Phillips, but I only really chuckled a few times. The script was predictable, the story forced, and some of the jokes felt like they were added at the last minute to fill in time. 4 stars for the supporting cast and the few giggles, but I wanted at least one big belly laugh like I get watching Jo Koy perform his stand up.

I wish I liked this more.

Greetings again from the darkness. Director Jay Chandrasekhar and co-writers Kate Angelo and Ken Cheng have crafted a tribute to the Filipino community, paying homage to family bonds and the culture. The obvious comparisons here are CRAZY RICH ASIANS (2018) and any number of Bollywood movies offering insight and a peek behind the curtain of Indian families. As global societies continue to disburse and intertwine with various races and cultures, it only makes sense for us to gain more understanding of each other ... and what better way than through comedy?

In the film, real life comedian Jo Koy plays fictional comedian and aspiring actor Joe Valencia. Joe moved to Los Angeles, away from his Bay area family, to pursue a career in entertainment. It's been a struggle, and he's best known for a beer commercial where he looks into the camera and says, "Let's get this party started, bayBee!" One of the recurring gags is how so many either recite the line to him, or plea with him to do so. Up for a big role in a TV pilot, Joe once again lets down his high school aged son, by attending an audition rather than a parent meeting at school. Junior (Brandon Wardell) is struggling a bit with his grades at the prestigious prep school he attends. See, Joe's career as an actor might not be rolling, but his ex-wife is a powerful attorney married to a professional athlete.

The real fun begins as we see the tension between father and son on the road trip they make to join the rest of the family for Easter Sunday ... an important day for Filipinos. Along the way, we experience two more of the film's running gags: Joe's mom (Lydia Gaston) pressuring him not just to show up, but to not be late, and Joe's agent (played by director Chandrasekhar), whose use of 'entering a tunnel, so I'll be losing the connection' is his standard way of ending a conversation when he's done. Once they arrive, we get yet another running gag - the ongoing sister rivalry between Joe's mom and his Tita Theresa (Tia Carrere). It's a quick trip for Joe and Junior, but it's filled with family drama, Joe's impromptu stand-up in church, a love interest for Junior (Eva Noblezada), a run-in with a former lover (Tiffany Haddish) for Joe, a questionable business investment between Joe and his cousin Eugene (Eugene Cordero), a confrontation with a local gangster named Dev Deluxe (Asif Ali), and an all-in family karaoke song. There is even a Lou Diamond Phillips tie-in that adds a touch of class.

The writers and director have worked mostly in TV to this point, and that is just too obvious. A TV sitcom style rarely succeeds on the big screen, and though we do get some laughs, there is an amateurish feel to the proceedings. On the upside, some insight into Filipino culture is welcome, I now know Manny Pacquaio's birthday, and it was my first exposure to "Hype Truck!" Opens in theaters on August 5, 2022.

So I am not filipino, but my wife is from the Philippines. So when she seen the trailer for this movie we decided we would rent it when it came out to stream/rent. What a mistake. The only partially funny stuff is in the trailer. The rest of the movie is beyond boring and all over the place.

Most of the jokes feel forced and make you cringe. The humor is pretty shallow and really seems to make fun of filipino culture and paint it in a bad light rather then show how great filipino culture can be.

Everyone in the movie (even non-filipinos) seem to act like nasty idiots to everyone. It felt like the lead actor (who I read is a comedian) basically took his jokes and tried to make them into a movie. It just doesn't work. This feels more like something you may see on TV instead. I can see why ticket sales were low.

While they movie had one amazing cameo, even this persons cameo felt forced and boring. I regret renting the movie for free. Couldn't pay me to watch it again. To note it was so slow we stopped watching after 45 minutes. Again, if my filipino wife finds it boring... you know its bad.

I did check out the actors comedy online and I'd say his comedy is at least funny, where as this movie is not. Not to mention the movie has endless swearing in it. This whole movie is just an insult to filipino culture and makes everyone look shallow and nuts.