Customer Reviews

Combination Platter

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Some of the other reviews compare COMBINATION PLATTER to MARTY. I don't know where this comparison began, but it's not apt. Although both films have to do with ethnic characters, MARTY, by Paddy Chayefsky is more character-driven, while COMBINATION PLATTER, though it follows a single protagonist, works more like an ensemble piece, following the adventures and misadventures of the waiters, cooks, dishwashers, hostess, and owner of a familiar mid-scale Chinese restaurant that caters to a predominently white clientele.

That said, what is strongest about the film is when the filmmaker and camera take us out of the restaurant and into the streets. Anyone who is familiar with Queens will instantly recognize Queens Center, Main Street, and the coup de grace, the old DRAKE movie theater, which was on Woodhaven Blvd, before it went out of business. These settings in and of themselves don't make for a movie, but they lend the film an authenticity of place.

The lead actor is also very convincing and with his muted performance conveys the angst of an immigrant seeking his place in the U.S.

Although the major dramatic question of will this illegal immigrant find a way to stay legally in the U.S. isn't answered at the film's end--the question is actually just dropped and forgotten 2/3 of the way in, the film does a good job of sustaining viewer's interest by picking up various strands of the ensemble drama. Will the hostess learn Chinese? Will the waiter with the gambling problem get caught? etc.

The film works and is an impressive first feature. The question in my mind is, whatever to the director Tony Chan? Has he done other films since? Anyone know?????

I am amazed at the many reviewers who dont like it... then it strikes me,
that is precisely what the movie is about!

A Chinese illegal immigrant (Robert) who is seriously worried about survival and staying on in America - like all immigrants including legal ones like myself.

An American woman (Claire) for whom life is about self-fulfillment including a casual romance.

When these two worlds meet, grapple and try to come to terms, it comes apart.

The chinese man works as a waiter in a restaurant and there are true vignettes of chinese restaurant life.

Unwittingly perhaps, the director let on that many Chinese are not very truthful or in their culture it is not valued highly. When Robert (our hero) decides to come clean and honestly tell Claire what he wants, she doesnt recognize it because of the white lies he has told before.

Unfortunately the reviewers below are unable to appreciate the subtleness and some sadness - much like real life. They are like Claire in the movie.

Great movie - could replace Chinese with Indian, Hispanic etc and would in many places still be accurate.

This well done film won at Sundance in 1993. If you were to update the film "Marty" and it took place in a chinese resturant, that's what you would get here, a well made film. A great rental, if you can find it.

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.

I rented this from Blockbuster Online. It was okay but after watching the whole film I was surprised when the credits started rolling and it felt like there should be more, like they must have just ran out of money or something and couldn't film any more scenes. The plot for the main characters wasn't resolved so that left the movie seeming very unfinished. Only a subplot with very minor characters was resolved, which I thought was very weird.

This winner at the Sundance Film Festival in 1993 is a modern day "Marty". It's charm and insight into American life from the perspective of the main character the Waiter, his co workers in the resturant and the American customers, is a funny yet touching look into what it means to someone to be a citzen. The love interest of the main character an American girl he dates to get a green card is hopeful, yet tragic as the two wrolds don't mix. Great supporting performaces all around and The Sundance channel plays this movis every so often. Worth the investment.

Although the subject of the film is very timely and contemporary because it deals with illegal immigration, as a whole the film is rather bland. It deals with Robert a Chinese illegal alien trying to get his green card. Robert is a waiter at Szechuan Inn, a Chinese restaurant in Flushing, New York. He saves his pay and tips to send money home to his parents in China. He writes to them regularly and tells them what they want to hear: that he is dating a nice Chinese girl (which happens to be untrue). The restaurant occasionally gets unannounced visits from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Services who inspect the premises to round up illegal aliens - so far Robert has managed to elude them. Eventually, Robert hopes to receive his green card so he can remain legally in the U.S. A good friend advises him of his only two options: either his employer needs to sponsor him or he must get married, even if it is a "marriage of convenience" [he pays someone to stay married to him for two years] so he can remain legally.

His friend introduces him to an American Chinese girl who is very outspoken and self-absorbed. She knows no Chinese. They negotiate for her to marry him for the sum of $25,000. Unfortunately, she senses his desperation and refuses, unless he will pay her $50,000. The sum is too large, he can not afford it. The friend provides him another option, date an American woman and try to marry her. Robert finds this choice uncomfortable but he has little choice so he goes along with the plan. He is introduced to Claire, an American young lady who works with computers. Their first date is to a movie, where Robert nearly falls asleep and Claire raves about the film, while Robert agrees with everything she says since he does not remember anything about it. Unfortunately, when Robert tells Claire he has no green card, she believes he is dating her only to obtain one and she drops him. In the whole film, there is just one ironic twist at the ending regarding the American Chinese girl to whom Robert was first introduced. Robert is asked to place a message in a Chinese fortune cookie by the American guy she is dating. Robert works very hard to remove the previous fortune and place the new one inside ... Unfortunately this last scene does not redeem the entire film.

There are definitely some funny moments in the film, for example, when Robert is asked by his American bus boy how to say, "Luck off" (substitute "F" for the "L") in Chinese, which he *does* teach him. Another amusing scene is when the waiters demand the food be ready quicker and they exchange vulgarities in Chinese which nearly results in a physical fight. Unfortunately overall, the film is rather mild and bland, not at all what I had expected since it won a Sundance Film Festival Award for screenwriting. I hoped to see some unexpected, out-of-the-ordinairy, surprise behavior in Robert's character or some complex turn in the plot but none of these occured. The film seemed to deflate. It ended on a rather flat note. While it is a film worth viewing, do not expect excitement or any falling off your seat laughter. It does however provide "a slice of life" [as stated by David Mills, Washington Post] from the point of view of a Chinese illegal immigrant but that is about all. Erika Borsos [pepper flower]

I had higher expectations for this movie as a Sundance winner and consequently it was disappointing.

Pieces of the movie were quite good. I enjoyed the scenes in the restaurant with the interaction among the Chinese kitchen and wait staff and between the staff and the mostly Anglo customers. And I appreciated Robert's dilemma on how to get a green card because I know someone in a similar situation.

Other parts of the movie didn't work for me. I couldn't understand why the owner didn't either teach his American-born niece how to write the Chinese characters for special orders, such as "mild," or post a chart in the kitchen showing the tranlation of the English words she used. And the relationship between Robert & Claire was unclear to me for much of the movie. I thought Andy introduced them specifically because she was interested in a green card marriage and their awkward dates were to determine if they could get along enough to stay married for 2 years. When that turned out not to be the case, I wondered why she had been dating him.

The English subtitles could have been improved by indicating whether the characters were speaking in Mandarin or Cantonese. In a couple of scenes it appeared there was miscommunication between characters and I wondered if it was because one was speaking Mandarin and the other Cantonese. But I felt I missed some of the nuance in the movie because I don't speak either and the subtitles only gave the English translation.

Finally, the end of the movie really fell flat for me. I like to be able to speculate what will happen after the ending, but this movie gave me no clue. I couldn't tell what Robert felt about the engagement of a couple at the restaurant or what he was going to do next.

Come on now, let's face it: This movie is awful! Another reviewer, trying to be kind, I think, suggests it might be enlightening for those who don't have the experience of living in an ethnic neighborhood. But really, there's nothing insightful about the situations in which these characters find themselves; they're boring, and offer no new aspects of a foreigner trying to make it in a foreign land. It's all cliches, and loaded with scenes with absolutely nothing happening! Okay, how about the positive aspects? Well, some of the characters are pretty likeable in my opinion--the main character and the hostess in the restaurant, in particular. That's the only positive thought I can muster for this one! And by the way, someone called this a comedy? I must have fast-forwarded through that part.

What an awful movie! However, I say this with some reservation. If you're wondering what kind of problems an Asian has while trying to live in this USA, then this movie can give you some brief samplings of their problems. But as someone who lives in city with a sizeable chinatown, I find the director's address of these problems merely superficially touched. He does hit all the different angles-- ABCs (American-Born Chinese), the American who lives in a Chinese world, interracial dating, and the plight of the immigrant himself-- but as I watched I only felt like I recognized the different situations, not like I was actually learning anything new. This film struck me as one of those artsy films where the director thinks he's trying to say something deep, but doesn't have the flair or style to make it interesting. Not only that but even the characters aren't particularly high-minded, which results in a rather boring and pedestrian script full of cliches. (The actors are all good, but that doesn't save the movie.) For someone who doesn't know what it's like when two cultures collide in a civic society, then you might find this film useful. For those of you who have pretty much grown up with Chinatowns or Russiatowns or Japantowns around you, then I don't think you'll find much of value here. In the final analysis, the film is sincere, which is its saving grace, but not much else.