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      Combination Platter

      1993 1h 24m Drama List
      Reviews 60% Audience Score 50+ Ratings Newly arrived in New York City from Hong Kong, Robert (Jeffrey Lau) finds employment at a Chinese restaurant. Nervous about his status as an illegal immigrant, Robert hopes to quickly secure a green card and eventually become an American citizen. After a botched attempt at "buying" a wife, Robert begins dating local Caucasian girl Claire (Colleen O'Brien) -- but will they have a real romance, or is he just pursuing the relationship for his own purposes? Read More Read Less

      Critics Reviews

      View All (4) Critics Reviews
      James Berardinelli ReelViews Rated: 3/4 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Hollis Chacona Austin Chronicle Rated: 3/5 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 3/5 Jul 5, 2005 Full Review Jake Euker Filmcritic.com small, but very enjoyable Rated: 4/5 Feb 11, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

      Audience Reviews

      View All (4) audience reviews
      Audience Member Cute film about life as an illegal immigrant working in a restaurant in New York. There is a lack of tremendous depth here but it was enjoyable. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Audience Member This is an early 90s movie that shows its age, i.e. the production values [I watched it through Netflix] are lackluster and the picture quality was mediocre. The story itself is not unique - it centers on illegal immigrant Robert [Jeffrey Lau] who is from Hong Kong and presently employed as a waiter at the Szechuan Inn,a Chinese restaurant somewhere on the outskirts of NY City. Robert is desperately seeking a green card as he fears deportation, and his close friend tries to get American women who will enter into a fake marriage for 2 years so that Robert gets his green card. These attempts fall flat and Robert is left to ponder his fate until he is introduced via the same friend to another Caucasian American woman. This is where the plot turned strange - I was under the assumption the lady, Claire, only met Robert to determine if they could make a go of a fake marriage, but it turned out that Claire had no inkling of Robert's visa predicament. The part of the movie that truly engaged me was the story centered on the running of the Szechuan Inn - there were a lot of interesting themes explored here - the rather strained relationship between the Mandarin speaking workers [from China] and the Cantonese speaking ones [from Hong Kong], the restaurant's owner's niece struggling with an identity crisis [she is an American-born Chinese but feels that she is neither wholly American or Chinese], the restaurant patrons, and many more. This was the part of the movie that truly entertained me. The other part - where Robert carries on a rather awkward romance with Claire came across as just that - awkward and very fake, and I felt let down by the shallow exploration of their relationship. The actor portraying Robert tries his best to appear earnest in his portrayal of a desperate illegal alien, but comes across as mostly stiff in his scenes. The ending is open-ended, but on the whole, this is an average cultural study that is worth watching if only for the credible portrayal of the inner workings of a Chinese restaurant and its underlying politics. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Audience Member Low budget story of coming to America and struggles with finding ways to participate in the American dream. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Audience Member [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/coverv/74/193774.jpg[/img]Director Wong Kar-Wai presents a kinetic, offbeat look at his city in these two stories. The first concerns a young woman (Brigitte Lin) who has been double-crossed in a heroin deal and her budding romance with a lovelorn cop (Takeshi Kaneshiro). The second deals with another officer (Tony Leung) whose girlfriend has left him and the young waitress (Faye Wong) who tries to help him without his knowledge. [font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][b]One of the better Chinese films I've seen lately. Sometimes confusing, but funny in an offbeat sort of way. I especially liked Faye Wong as the cute, quirky snack bar waitress who takes over the heartbroken cop's apt without his knowledge. Nice music too. Interestingly enough it's Faye Wong who does the singing of the Cranberries song sung in Chinese. Apparantly she's a big rock star in China, and this was her first film role. Well worth a view.[/b][/size][/font] :fresh: :fresh: :fresh: :fresh: [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/coverv/14/229314.jpg[/img]Shaolin was an art practiced through the ages; a skill mastered in the heart. In SHAOLIN SOCCER, it is so much more than a philosophy for six young believers. It is a complete way of life. But as the world changed around them, and Honor and Discipline become forgotten virtues, they lose their way --except for one loyal follower, Sing (Chow). With the help of a former soccer star, he reunites his old, out of shape, misfit friends, and recruits a young woman with extraordinary Kung Fu skills. Together, they're out to combine the ancient power of Shaolin with the modern game of soccer and in the process, just might take the world's most popular sport to its most extreme. [b][font=Comic Sans MS][size=3]Often amusing comedy with goofy special effects & stunts. However, pretty predictable and typical "unlikely underdogs beat the bad guys" storyline.[/size][/font][/b] [font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][b][img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/coverv/62/234762.jpg[/img][/b][font=Garamond][font=Verdana][size=2]An illegal immigrant waiting tables in a Chinese restaurant struggles to arrange a marriage with an American woman so that he can get his green card. He also tries in vain to maintain his cultural identity amid all the forces that urge him to assimilate. When he finally meets a woman who might be willing to help him out, he is surprised to find his emotions getting in the way of their business arrangement.[/size][/font] [/font] [font=Fixedsys][b]Found the film too slow paced and not very interesting.[/b][/font][/size][/font] Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/09/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Movie Info

      Synopsis Newly arrived in New York City from Hong Kong, Robert (Jeffrey Lau) finds employment at a Chinese restaurant. Nervous about his status as an illegal immigrant, Robert hopes to quickly secure a green card and eventually become an American citizen. After a botched attempt at "buying" a wife, Robert begins dating local Caucasian girl Claire (Colleen O'Brien) -- but will they have a real romance, or is he just pursuing the relationship for his own purposes?
      Director
      Tony Chan
      Genre
      Drama
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Streaming)
      Aug 25, 2018
      Box Office (Gross USA)
      $21.6K
      Runtime
      1h 24m