Movie Review: The Farewell is a terrific little family film which has received great reviews! It is an endearing film which wikipedia describes as:The Farewell is a 2019 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Lulu Wang. The film stars Awkwafina, Tzi Ma, Diana Lin, Zhao Shuzhen, Lu Hong, and Jiang Yongbo and follows a family who, upon learning their grandmother has only a short while left to live, decide not to tell her and schedule a family gathering before she dies.
It received positive reviews from critics, including praise for Wang’s storytelling ability and Awkwafina’s performance.
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 99% and an average rating of 8.78/10, with 195 out of 196 reviews being positive. The site’s critics’ consensus reads: “The Farewell deftly captures complicated family dynamics with a poignant, well-acted drama that marries cultural specificity with universally relatable themes.”[15] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has a weighted average score of 90 out of 100, based on 43 critics, indicating “universal acclaim”.[16]
I had to look up Awkwafina’s history. Apparently… “Lum was born in New York City[3] to an ethnic Chinese-American father, Wally,[4] and a South Korean immigrant mother, a painter.[5][6][7] She grew up in Forest Hills, Queens.”
I guessed Awkwafina might have been one of those Orientals adopted into the U.S. by some Jewish couple from NYC but it appears she was born there!
I enjoyed the film immensely, with a terrific cast and great direction. I give it 5/5. It’s not a blockbuster but then again…does everything have to be?
See Part II for more!!
