Word: jadedly
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...When Jade's parents determine that she is old enough, they embark on a quest to find a proper Chinese man for her to marry. By the time the Li family's matchmaking escapades begin, we are throughly on Jade's side. The first of the eligible men is Andrew, a handsome Chinese lawyer who turns out himself to be less than interested. Jade agrees to the arrangement hoping only to appease her family so that they will let her pursue her acting career...
...Jade's thin facade of compliance is shattered, however, when she meets Mark, a while English student. While Jade's arranged dates continue to fail, her relationship with Mark grows. Predictably, it's not long before she is forced to decide whether she'll submit to her parents' wishes or live her own life...
...film's strength is in exposing the stereotypes that dictate Jade's existence. When Jade meets Mark, he approaches her as she waits alone outside an after-hours club after being rejected by the bouncer. She attempts to ward off his advances by affecting the stereotypically demure, non-English speaking attitude of a Chinese-born girl. When his persistence charms her, her switch of persona back to her Western personality is sharp enough to cleverly echo the polar extremes that the movie is trying to demonstrate...
...movie's weakness lies in the fact that interactions between the characters, especially between Jade and her younger sister Pearl, sometimes seem forced. The viewer is constantly plagued by the nagging consciousness that the actors are acting, rather than actually inhabiting an alternate world. This failure seems a result of a discrepancy between the director's expectation of the rapport that the characters should share and the actual quality of their interactions...
...playing Jade, Sandra Oh seems forced into a box that stereotypically defines how those that are limited by stereotypes should act. It is in this paradox that much of the power of the movie is lost...