Wedding Banquet Review: Lily Gladstone And Kelly Marie Tran’s Queer Rom-Com Hits A Rare Sweet Spot Of Being Hilarious And Heartfelt

Remember what romantic comedies used to be? I love a cozy, sit-on-the-couch Netflix rom-com as much as anyone, but then a movie like The Wedding Banquet comes around and reminds one that the genre can feel big, funny and cinematic yet incredibly intimate and small. This new release is by no means a big studio title, given it came out of the Sundance Film Festival at the beginning of the year, but it has the kind of warm and fun quality that is instantly both a crowd-pleaser and ready to embrace you as a brand new comfort movie.

A few years ago, director Andrew Ahn made us feel all fluttery over Hulu’s Fire Island, as he brought a fresh spin on Pride & Prejudice with the backdrop of Long Island’s famously queer friendly vacation paradise from a script by Joel Kim Booster. For The Wedding Banquet, Ahn has co-written and directed his own update on Ang Lee’s 1993 comedy of the same name. Not only is this The Wedding Banquet a great and expansive remake that builds upon the spirit of the original, but it’s also its own achievement in the celebration of queer joy for the LGBTQ+ community and simply an entertaining flick.

I didn’t expect to see Lily Gladstone and Kelly Marie Tran in a romantic comedy, but here we are… and their dramatic backgrounds help ground The Wedding Banquet.

When it comes to romantic comedies, there’s usually a list of usual suspects of whom one might expect to see in the genre. Among them wasn’t necessarily Lily Gladstone coming off of her Killers Of The Flower Moon Oscar nomination or The Last Jedi’s Kelly Marie Tran. And yet, these two absolutely create something special in The Wedding Banquet by infusing their dramatic chops with their abilities to hit the right comedic beats. The actresses play a lived-in couple, Lee and Angela who’ve gone through all the first-time fireworks and such long prior to where the movie starts things off for them. They have been trying to use IVF to have their first child, but it’s proven not only to be unsuccessful but put them in significant debt.

Their doctor has suggested that Lee (Gladstone) only try once more, but at this point, they are so tired and stressed from their past attempts that they find themselves at a stand still. That is until their friend Min (South Korea’s Han Gi-Chan) becomes desperate for his green card and his longtime partner Chris (Bowen Yang) isn’t quite ready to say “I do.” There is, however, a proposal anyway: Min asks Angela to marry him so that he can stay in America and in exchange he will help them pay for their next IVF procedure. It’s oddly the perfect plan for each of the main characters to get what they want… that is, until Min’s grandmother (played by Minari Oscar winner Youn Yuh-jung) flies from South Korea to see the happy couple.

Not only are Tran and Gladstone the sweetest pair, but The Wedding Banquet also spends energy on giving Min and Chris a mix of hilarity and deep moments along with putting in time forwarding the relationship dynamics between Angela’s relationship with her very involved mother (Joan Chen) along with Min and his grandmother. It’s a given that Saturday Night Live’s Bowen Yang knows how to hit a mark when it comes to a joke, but Han especially shines when it comes to laugh count in his first English-language feature, too.

The Wedding Banquet balances a storyline about queer acceptance and joy with grace.

Considering The Wedding Banquet’s aim to be both a wedding comedy and a family drama that resonates with the LGBTQ+ community, things could have easily taken an awkward turn, but the movie’s beautiful balance of tone is part of what makes it so gratifying. While you definitely want to see those fun hijinks between the cast (and you do) where they are scrambling to pull off a straight and traditional Korean wedding in order for the stars to align for both couples, the fantastic script – written by Ahn and original The Wedding Banquet co-writer James Schamus – is just as interested in why these characters are going through with it in the first place, and it only heightens the narrative.

On Angela’s side, there’s a gorgeously memorable arc between Tran’s character and Chen’s May as they deal with an imperfect and bruised mother/daughter relationship that is only more exacerbated by Angela getting ready to make the decision to be a mother herself. And on Min’s side, there’s a real palpability to the emotion as the plotline moves forward. When it comes to storylines about LGBTQ+ acceptance, oftentimes movies can lean too far into the camp or seriousness, but The Wedding Banquet feels truly genuine and human.

Fire Island writer/director Andrew Ahn delivers another refreshing twist on a classic with this movie.

Andrew Ahn’s direction often finds the unique angles to portray his characters, and doesn’t have the ability to reduce the movie into any kind of cliché throughout its runtime. It feels nearly impossible not to feel with these characters and root for them as the pair of couples go through the motions of wedding traditions like photos, bachelor parties and family meet-and-greets. Jay Wadley’s score adds a gentle touch to the film as well.

As the movie floats its audience through its runtime, it’s clear statement about the importance of chosen family and imperfection is spoken to so beautifully that one wants to cry sad tears – but there’s a celebratory quality to how each of the characters come out of the plotline that turn its stingy emotion right around to happy tears and easy smiles. It’s the kind of feeling that reminds one why romantic comedies remain to be such a powerful genre when handled with care.