AFFD Report: FINISHING THE GAME Review

Trailing a long string of festival engagements behind it, Justin Lin's Finishing the Game arrived in town tonight to kick off the sixth edition of the Asian Film Festival of Dallas, which runs through August 30.

Lin made the memorable independent feature Better Luck Tomorrow in 2002. It debuted at Sundance -- where Roger Ebert loudly defended the filmmakers in one lively post-screening debate -- was the first acquisition by MTV Films, and generated a good deal of positive buzz upon its theatrical release in 2003. But then it appeared that Lin was promptly sucked up into the Hollywood machine: he made the big-budget, forgettable Annapolis and then the stylish Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, which was, admittedly, better and more entertaining than it had any right to be as the third film in a previously empty-headed series.

When I heard that Finishing the Game was a mockumentary about the search for a Bruce Lee stand-in -- to allow the producers of Game of Death to finish the film despite only having 12 minutes of authentic Lee footage before he unexpectedly died -- I groaned. I've developed a severe allergic reaction to mockumentaries, which tend to fall far short of the wit and affection for the subject that the Christopher Guest films have honed to a fine art. Was Lin's vaunted return to his independent roots receiving attention just for his name value?

Happily, that is not the case. Indeed, all it took was a glimpse at footage of fictional Bruce Lee imitator "Breeze Loo" -- in which Roger Fan as Breeze executes a perfect fake backwards blind punch complete with the high-pitched Lee yelp -- to know that Lin's film comes from a genuine admirer.

With a light touch, Lin also manages to sprinkle a layer of social commentary upon the generally comedic proceedings. Roles for Asian American actors were extremely limited in the 1970s, and, sadly, things are only marginally better today, so it's no surprise when dozens of would-be Bruce Lee stands-in show up for an audition. We follow as the group is winnowed down to a handful. The hopefuls include:

- Breeze Loo (Roger Fan), supremely confident star of 14 martial-arts films in two years with titles like Fist of Fuhrer;

- Colgate Kim (Sung Kang), a friendly kid from Alabama, accompanied by the Colombian Saraghina (Monique Curren), his childhood sweetheart and manager;

- Raja (Mousa Kraish), newly-minted doctor who has quit the medical profession to pursue his dream of acting;

- Troy Poon (Dustin Nguyen), a veteran actor who yearns to escape the ghetto of always being cast as a food delivery guy;

- Tarrick Tyler (McCaleb Burnett), an activist who looks Caucasian but is actually half-Chinese.

As with most comedies, some jokes and characters fall flat, but Finishing the Game has a very high batting average. And what ties it all together, especially for those of us who still burn a candle for Bruce Lee, is that the humor is done with respect for Lee and for what he inspired.

Roger Fan and Sung Kang are exceptionally good, hitting all the right notes.

Lin, Fan, and Kang were all present for a highly entertaining post-screening Q & A, and all remained in the theater lobby, autographing free copies of the film's poster, for all who wanted one.

Some of the queries were the same as those asked when the film played at the San Francisco Asian American Film Festival earlier this year, so let me point you to Michael Guillen's excellent and thorough coverage, which you can find under "Related Links" below.

I will add, however, that we had the bonus of a Bruce Lee lookalike contest! Roger Fan acted as an extremely funny MC for the contest, in which three volunteers came down from the audience and did their best Bruce Lee. Thanks to Ripped Guy, Quiet Guy (winner), and Tiger, who also had a long, heartfelt question during the Q &A, but whose mention of doing a commercial for the restaurant chain Chili's prompted Fan to reenact (hilariously) a song he performed during his own Chili's commercial. Someone give Roger Fan his own show, quick!

Finishing the Game will play Fantastic Fest in Austin next month before receiving a limited US theatrical release by IFC Films in October.