THE MOTEL

San Francisco Premiere

USA 2005 | 76mins | 35mm Color

In person: Director Michael Kang and actors Sung Kang, Jeffrey Chyau and Jade Wu

When you're a chubby Chinese American kid toiling in your family's sleazy suburban motel and hopelessly in love with the only Asian American girl in the county, how can you ever manage to be the model minority that everyone expects you to be? If you're Ernest Chin, the hapless hero of THE MOTEL, you may have better luck tomorrow when a bad-boy tenant decides to become the big brother you never had. Fresh from its Sundance world premiere, Michael Kang's smart and funny feature-film debut lures us into a heartwarming, coming-of-age comedy, then hooks us with the heartbreak of growing up adolescent and A-squared in America.

Aspiring to something more, young Ernest (Jeffrey Chyau) chronicles the crushing monotony of his daily life at the motel—as well as his crush on the cute waitress at the local Chinese restaurant—for a local literary contest and ends up a winner. Well, an honorable mention to be exact. His bitter mother belittles his accomplishment and sends him packing with fresh linens and toilet paper, until new tenant Sam (Sung Kang, BETTER LUCK TOMORROW, SFIAAFF '02)—complete with floozy and booze—takes him under his wing. The problem is, this newfound mentor may be more played-out than player.

With understated wit and a disarming depth of emotion, Kang's film offers refreshing life lessons about masculinity and ethnicity as seen through the eyes of a confused 13-year-old, all while evoking a slightly shady side of childhood reminiscent of Todd Solondz's WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE. It's no surprise that the script earned the filmmaker an invitation to the coveted Sundance Screenwriters' Lab, as its characters and situations convey a brand of bittersweet honesty rarely seen in films today. Be sure to check into THE MOTEL for this year's festival finale and check out a promising new cinematic talent!

—Michael Wilson