Feeling the pressures of home life, a young Chinese boy, Wei-Lai, decides to ask his friend's family to adopt him. However, despite the harsh regime his parents put on him Wei-Lai desires his parent's affection. The families eventually meet up and Wei-Lai finally gets a chance to express his feeling to his parents.
“Wei-Lai” review is part of the Submit Your Film Initiative
Robin Wang's “Wie-Lai” is a short comedy film that explores cultural differences between two families. However, the message here comes across as rather clumsy due to an awkward approach that really fails to hit the emotional conclusion intended. The culprit? A strained approach to comedy that will only appeal to a certain audience.
The humorous aspect was obviously influenced by American sitcoms, the delivery of jokes being over-the-top, and the comedy itself staying extremely safe. Furthermore, it is the kind of humor that plays on perceived cultural stereotypes, the white family in particular, being painfully cliche. It seems to derive from a bygone era, and will likely dissuade most who find the sitcom approach to humor to be tiresome and overly simple. However, there are some people who will find the comedic stylings nostalgic, and with the genre being subjective and the lines between groan or chuckle-worthy will differ with audiences. Regardless, for those who have a disdain for watered-down humor and simple jokes “Wei-Lai” is going to be a challenge.
In such a commercially clean approach, the performances are limited by the script. Any perceived awkwardness should not be held against the actors as much as the approach of Robin Wang and the American comedy he is paying homage to– those who are turned off by the approach will likely find the characters rather insufferable. Yet, again this will also boil down to whether “Wei-Lai” evokes a sense of nostalgia for the simplistic delivery.
To my own tastes, the popular American sitcom (Two and A Half Men, Big Bang Theory, etc) is where art and good taste go to die, so to say I disliked Robin Wang's short film “Wei-Lai” would be an understatement. I would also argue that the awkwardness of the comedy in the first half makes the latter drama and exploration of family dynamics entirely unsuccessful. However, the format has certainly become such an integral part of pop culture that there will always be a willing audience for this brand of humor. If its message can be made more palatable to a general audience through this approach, others may find value where I saw none.
Overall, “Wei-Lai” is offensive and short, this is the best I can give it from my own standpoint, yet I would not fault someone for finding charm in the wholesome comedy and light approach to exploring cultural differences. If you have a soft spot for characters like your ‘Young Sheldons', “Wei-Lai” might just be the charming indie short you need in your life.
