Okay, I almost never write reviews on IMDb because I generally agree with what at least one person has said about any certain film. However, in the case of "Under One Roof" I was shocked to see that the film had garnered a 6.1 rating and three generally supportive comments.
After viewing this film I couldn't think of a single original or unique attribute that made it worthwhile... every scene, scenario and character is ripped from the endless slosh of gay narratives available in film and television-- many of which are low-quality, but which all surpass this confusing spectacle. Many filmmakers today are using DV as a mechanism to reduce production cost, increase camera mobility and allow for more footage to be shot without being concerned about cost. In "Under One Roof" the extremely low production value is evident, but the makers fail to use DV for any of its other advantages... each scene is shot from only one angle and it is obvious in the scenes where actors stumble over their lines that the production was a very rushed process.
The film is at best a terribly watered down version of Ang Lee's brilliant "The Wedding Banquet" and employs liberal use of musical montages (resulting in very repetitive, annoying keyboard music that becomes very familiar to the viewer by the end of this 76-minute train wreck), flashbacks, supposedly meaningful silences and unnecessary voice over. It teeters between dramedy and pornography with various interspersed scenes of gratuitous nudity that fail to both serve any erotic purpose or further the plot (most notedly a painfully long "sex" scene in which two characters undress and stand around aimlessly for a while before breaking into a sentimental story about a very special coin in one of their collections). The strange, unnatural sets and cheap cinematography only contribute to the film's pseudo-porn air.
Absolutely no variation on the traditional "coming out" story is offered here, in a story about a man (Jay Wong) in his late 20s living at home with his traditional Chinese mother and grandmother in San Francisco. The script's derivative nature is almost too much to handle when you hear the actors stumble over lame one-liners and puns.
I implore you to avoid this bomb at any cost... if you don't believe me, just watch the charming trailer available at the top of this page to see a few seconds of the film's top notch quality.
