CIM. Director Wayne Wang; Producer Tom Sternberg, Wayne Wang, Danny Yung; Screenplay Terrel Seltzer; Camera Michael Chin; Editor Ralph Wikke; Music Todd Boekelheide; Art Director Danny Yung
Laureen Chew
Kim Chew
Victor Wong
Ida F.O. Chung
Cora Miao
John Nishio
Dim Sum offers up a few charming observations about cultural differences among assorted generations of Chinese Americans, but the dramatic situations are so underplayed as to be mostly ineffectual.
Taking a cue from countless earlier Asian family pictures that have dwelt upon the subject of family traditions and the responsibilities of children for their aging parents, director Wayne Wang and scripter Terrel Seltzer [working from an idea by them and Laureen Chew] have focused upon the relationship between a traditional Chinese woman in her 60s and her 30-ish daughter, who unlike her brother and sister, is not yet hitched.
A great deal of the sought-after humor stems from the 'So when are you gonna get married?' attitudes of family friends.
The authenticity of Wang's depiction of San Francisco's Chinese need not be questioned, but the attitudes expressed are predictable in the extreme and are invested with little sense of dramatic urgency.
(Color) Available on VHS, DVD. Extract of a review from 1985. Running time: 85 MIN.
Contact Variety Staff at
news@variety.com