American Fusion is one of my favorite's romantic comedies. Director Frank Lin help create a little comedy film about the difficulties of having an interracial relationship when the tradition family is so against it. The film is highlight by a great cast of racial boundaries actors and actress that gives the film, its unique cultural insight, while also being clearly a true-American film. Sadly, the movie had a limited opening, so not a lot of people saw it. I think it's an awesome movie, but it's under-appreciated. This film should have more time and money for crossover success, and deserves wide distribution in my opinion. Yvonne (Sylvia Chang) is a middle age Chinese American divorcée who seems that she couldn't find Mr. Right, until she meets Jose (Esai Morales), a Hispanic dentist, when she met working on an article piece for a newspaper. She takes care of her mother and son, and practically does everything to appease the family. She rarely does much for herself, or for her own happiness. While, she want to further the relationship with him, her overbearing mother (Lan Yun) is horrified at the prospect of her daughter dating a Mexican-American. With Mother about to undergo major back surgery, her stranglehold over the family is stronger than ever. Can Yvonne choose between her own happiness and that of her mother? Sylvia Chang can act. From playing an innocent girl to a street walker, from a rude police officer to a respected teacher, from an alcoholic to a great mother. She can do it all, and with American Fusion, she can add being funny to her resume. Lan Yun is clearly most hilarious person in this movie, and she dominate the role and the film. She has almost all the best scenes in the movie. This hilarious movie has a great supporting cast, from a lesser extent her slacker son, Joshua (Randall Park) to Pat Morita as her boss Lao Dong. Collin Chou was good in it as Yvonne's brother Tony who is trying to make a child with his wife. He not only has great timing when it comes to martial arts but he has great comic timing as well with odd scenes of them trying to make a baby for his mother before she dies. Hira Ambrosino stars as overbearing sister of Yvonne, Juliet who like Yvonne, and Tony is trying to live up to her mother's wishes for her. She is clearly against anything that her son, Steve (Jamie Cheung) does. The film even has a cameo from famous male model Fabio and James Hong as an odd case medication doctor. All the characters are believable, and the story is about what happens when two cultures collide and try to relate. The mix of Chinese culture with American reality makes for some very amusing and poignant moments. It's very well written and very well acted. The dialogue interaction between Yvonne and her family really makes for great fun. I found myself rooting for Yvonne and Jose just because of their daring to defy the stereotyping of Chinese and Mexican cultures, and choosing to follow their hearts, not ethnic traditions. Yes, there is a lot of racist or stereotypes jokes in here, but most of it is pretty mild, and just show the ignorant of older people upon something new. It might offend some people, but if you hate it just because of that, learn to laugh a little bit here. There might be some Chinese jokes that might go over the head to some people, but like I said you don't have to be Chinese or Hispanic to find it funny. There are some black and white humor as well. It can be a bit crude humor as the characters really try to angry the other person, but like I say, get used to it. There is a heartwarming message to the film. Some people might not watch the movie due to little to no main stars in it, and the budget being limited, but overall, it's not noticeable. I watch a lot of blockbusters films and then watched this movie, and I loved it!! I would totally recommend it. This moves is so funny, and laughed so hard, while watching. It's a must see! It was more than what I expected.

I saw this yesterday at the 20th Pacific Rim Film Festival in Santa Cruz. I almost walked out after the first 20 minutes, but I decided to stay because 1) it was free, and 2) the director was going to speak afterwards (Frank Lin, like any director, has at least walked the walk, and I find anyone that actually achieves his/her dream of making a full-length feature worth listening to). To be fair, in contrast to my dislike of the film, the bulk of the audience seemed to enjoy it a lot, but then again it was a free showing and I'm sure the festive atmosphere made most attendees less critical than usual.The reason this film doesn't work is simple: The script is horrible. Ten minutes into the film we know how it's going to end. The characters are annoying. Pat Morita is the most offensive Asian stereotype since Mickey Roonie in "Breakfast at Tiffany's." And wince-inducing dialog occurred every couple of minutes. One example, played straight, believe it or not: He says, "Are you embarrassed of me?" She says, "No! Yes! I don't know!" And the attempt at comedy was juvenile: A Chinese woman gets a blood transfusion from, unbeknownst to her, a Mexican donor, and the first thing she says when she recovers is "I want tacos!" And to elicit laughs, we're shown Three Stooges slapstick in the form of physical abuse within the protagonist's family, the most awkward example a scene where a woman knees her husband in the groin in an attempt to calm him down, despite the fact they're desperately trying to conceive a child.In the post-screening discussion the director awkwardly explained why his independently released film bombed: It came out the same weekend as "Superbad." Sorry guy, but that's not the reason.It deserves 3 stars for casting (which included the always fun to watch James Hong) and for the production values; most of the acting was OK, as was the editing, and the cinematography and the sound was of a high quality. Despite the fact that it was one of the worst movies I've seen in a long time, I'm happy that Lin is getting another crack at directing because he's shown he's got directorial talent if nothing else. Sadly, the script he wrote had "Student Film" written all over it.

The comment from liuweichun2002 was unfortunate and misinterpreted. This is not a film about demeaning racial stereotypes any more than MY BIG FAT Greek WEDDING was and I don't know of any Greeks who complained about that. FUSION won the audience award at the 2005 Hawaii International Film Festival and was so popular that extra screenings were scheduled. I was there standing in the wings and when it finished I told director Frank Lin that he was going to win the audience award - why? - because the predominantly Asian audience was roaring with laughter throughout. American Fusion IS, like Greek Wedding, a sweet sleeper of a movie that should find a wide audience of any ethnicity. I know I'm going to play it at my theater.

First-time director Frank Lin has fashioned a great little comedy about the difficulties of relationships across cultural and racial boundaries. Yvonne, a Chinese divorcée pushing fifty with a young son pretending to be black, is a virtual household slave to her domineering, old-school mother who constantly demeans her for not being more successful with her life. When she meets a handsome dentist while on assignment doing an interview for a newspaper, her life suddenly regains its promise. But complication arise in the form of not just her mother, but her entire family, who think that a Mexican named Jose is a totally unacceptable match for a Chinese woman. ("Hosin? That means Monkey!") When Yvonne's mother gets a back injury from a massage mishap and needs surgery, Yvonne starts to believe that her chances for romance are indeed over. American Fusion is a very funny film, well written and very well acted. All the characters are believable, and the clash of an ancient Chinese tradition with American reality makes for some very humorous and touching moments. With a cameo from Fabio and excellent work from Frank Morita, this film should be a crossover success, and deserves wide distribution. 8.5/10