Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart

PG

Released Oct 30, 1985

1 hr. 26 min.

Comedy

Drama

List

90%

10 Reviews

Tomatometer

50%

100+ Ratings

Audience Score

Geraldine Tam (Laureen Chew) is the only one of her siblings to still live at home. Her mother (Kim Chew) -- who, after visiting a fortuneteller, is convinced she will die within the year -- would like nothing more than to see her daughter married. But though Geraldine has a boyfriend, she is reluctant to accept his proposal of marriage because she feels guilty about leaving her traditional Chinese mother alone. Despite their feuding, Geraldine and her mother become ever closer.

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Audience Member

good comedy & follow-up to 'chan is missing"

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This movie is...fine? I guess? It's not bad. It's an early film by Wayne Wang, one of the few Hollywood directors to consistently take an interest in the lives of ordinary Chinese-American immigrants. (Actually, maybe he's the only one to really do that, and even then he doesn't do it all the time - he's also made indie films like Smoke and studio films like Maid in Manhattan and Last Holiday.) The movie seems like it's a fairly genuine depiction of Chinese-American immigrant life in San Francisco, but it's also not much more than that. The story focuses on Geraldine (Laureen Chew) a woman in her thirties who is still living with her very traditional mother (Kim Chew). Her mother keeps asking her when she's going to get married, but also seems to like having Geraldine around the house. There's also a cheerful older bartender (Victor Wong) who might want to marry the mother. That's sort of it. It's a movie of ordinary events and quiet observations. The cast seems like it consists entirely of nonprofessional actors - looking at the IMDB page, it seems like only one or two of them would ever make a career out of acting, and none of them had significant experience before this movie. It all feels very authentic, and probably is. But I don't feel especially moved or as if I've learned a whole lot from the movie. I'd only really recommend it if you're especially interested in depictions of immigrant life, or in the career of Wayne Wang. Otherwise, you can probably live without seeing it.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/23/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The slow pacing causes tedium in an otherwise pleasant film.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

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Audience Member

Acting.... Thumbs down

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

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Audience Member

Victor Wong, like Paul Muni, only needed two films to earn a spot in my favorite actor list.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/22/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Perhaps I do not understand Chinese comedy. This movie was so slow and so boring, that my mom and I watched 25 minutes of it and nearly fell asleep. I was terribly disappointed, because Victor Wong and Amy Hill played in it. They are two of my favorite actors. Maybe it would have improved if we stuck it out longer, but it was physically impossible to do so.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

Full Review

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Wayne Wang

Director

Laureen Chew

Geraldine Tam

Kim Chew

Mrs. Tam

Victor Wong

Uncle Tam

Ida Chung

Auntie May

Cora Miao

Julia

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Paul Attanasio

Washington Post

How boring and aimless it is! What fake profundity!

Jan 4, 2018

Full Review

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

What is remarkable is the way Wang deals with this complex set of emotions, in a movie that is essentially a comedy.

Rated: 3/4

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Dennis Harvey

48 Hills

It was a significant critical and arthouse success for Orion Classics at the time, though it had grown less accessible in recent years.

Aug 21, 2023

Full Review

Peter Martin

ScreenAnarchy

Beautiful, gentle, emotionally wrenching, and heartwarming, all at the same time. Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart resonates beyond its specific subject matter to encompass the shifting relationships between parents and children.

Aug 14, 2023

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Playfully celebrating Asian cuisine (every scene displays food), this family melodrama deals with the erosion of traditional values.

Rated: B

Jun 20, 2006

Full Review

Philip Martin

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Rated: 3/5

May 15, 2006

Full Review

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Synopsis

Geraldine Tam (Laureen Chew) is the only one of her siblings to still live at home. Her mother (Kim Chew) -- who, after visiting a fortuneteller, is convinced she will die within the year -- would like nothing more than to see her daughter married. But though Geraldine has a boyfriend, she is reluctant to accept his proposal of marriage because she feels guilty about leaving her traditional Chinese mother alone. Despite their feuding, Geraldine and her mother become ever closer.

Director: Wayne Wang
Executive Producer: Vincent Tai
Distributor: Orion Pictures
Rating: PG
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 30, 1985, Original
Release Date (DVD): Jan 24, 2006

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