We don’t really hear very much from our Chinese-speaking friends across the Causeway, cinematically speaking. Sure, there’s Tsai Ming-Liang, but his directorial career only truly took off when he hopped over to Taiwan. And then there’s Michelle Yeoh, but more than half of the Western world probably has no clue nor any desire to gain a clue about her national origin. To the rescue comes The Kid From The Big Apple. A film that is undeniably Malaysian (despite two of its leading cast members hailing from Hong Kong), The Kid From The Big Apple is at times unpolished and contrived, but retains sufficient charm through inspired performances and oodles of sincerity.
Sarah (Tan Qin Lin) is a 12-year-old girl from NYC who is dumped at her grandfather’s KL home after mum Sophia (Hsuan) issues her an ultimatum: stay with Grandpa (Ti Lung) for a few months, or go with Mummy to a garment factory in Chongqing where the only thing she can do is watch Mummy work all day. The choice is obvious, even if Sarah isn’t exactly relishing the prospect of living in a strange country with a grandfather she’s never met before. Westernised, pampered Sarah immediately gets off on the wrong foot with her traditional and conservative grandfather but, as the duo work out their differences, they come to learn surprising things about each other and themselves, as well as the secret behind a decade-long estrangement.
The first thing that will strike you if you’re a purist for this sort of thing (like this reviewer) is that Sarah doesn’t speak with even a trace of an American accent, despite having lived in the US all her life. Tan Qin Lin delivers her English dialogue with as much verve as she can muster, but she still can’t help sounding like a local kid doing a recitation at school. It’s a small enough gripe, but is a stark reminder of play-acting in a film which presents itself as essentially realist. And even if you’re not a purist for accents, many of the initial gags involving translational hijinks (Grandpa pronounces ‘Sarah’ as ‘salah’) and cultural differences (Sarah can’t stop freaking out when Grandpa eats chicken feet) are just not very funny, giving the film a decidedly ham-fisted vibe.
If you just let the film ease into top gear at its own pace, however, you’ll discover why director Jess Teong cast Tan Qin Lin in the role of Sarah instead of an actual ABC and, more importantly, how a lack of slickness and polish can sometimes work to a film’s advantage. For all its comedic missteps, The Kid From The Big Apple is a sincere and heartfelt portrayal of familial dynamics across three generations. It may not offer up anything completely novel, but is so earnest and sincere in its presentation that one feels obliged to overlook some of the more cringe-worthy moments. And then there are the homages to Malaysian Chinese culture, from the authentic kaya-toast-and-egg breakfasts to the podunk grocery stores and old-school TCM clinics. If you didn’t already know, this is why so many local dramas hop over the border whenever they have to film scenes depicting Singapore from thirty or forty years ago.
Lead actress Tan Qin Lin, English enunciation notwithstanding, is a rare find indeed and Jason Tan, who plays Sarah’s mischievous neighbour Jiabao, is irrepressibly at the centre of most of the film’s successful gags. Old-timers should get a kick out of watching Ti Lung demonstrate his martial-arts chops, even if he does sound a tad unnatural acting in Mandarin instead of his native Cantonese. Hsuan has no such issues, breezing through English, Mandarin and Cantonese dialogue with equal aplomb in one of her trademark high-quality performances. It’s hard not to be moved by her total immersion into the role of the resilient yet vulnerable Sophia.
Straddling the fine line between maudlin and sentimental, The Kid From The Big Apple is a credible effort from first-time director Teong, wherein the lack of polish actually adds to its overall appeal. In spite of the title, it’s not cosmopolitan New York that lends the film its flavour, but rather the more earthy charms of urban Malaysia.
Summary: Starts off clumsily, but soon worms its way into your heart.
RATING: 3 out of 5 stars
– Leslie Wong