THE TROPHY BRIDE Review: Crazy Rich and Poor Asians

Parasites like us (i.e. poor people) endeavor to 'marry up.' It's not as easy as it looks.

The Trophy Bride (orig. Co Dau Hao Mon)
The film opens Friday, November 8, in theaters throughout US, Canada, UK, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia, with more countries to follow, via 3388 Films. Visit the official site for more information.

Broad comedies tend to grate or ingratiate, much more so than other types of films. And broad comedies from Asia tend to leave me baffled, unless physical comedy is involved, a la the films of Stephen Chow. (I have yet to understand any of his myriad mo lei tau jokes, however.)

Like most Screen Anarchy readers and reviewers, I've been happy to focus on Vietnam's punchy action adventures and distinguished dramas, but I can't remember seeing one of their comedies. The Trophy Bride (orig. Co Dau Hao Mon) is as much of a socially-aware comedy as Jon M. Chu's Crazy Rich Asians (2018), only set in Vietnam rather than China, and aiming for more middlebrow tastes.

The film establishes two families, one obscenely wealthy, and the other extremely downtrodden. On that level, it's reminiscent of Bong Joon Ho's Parasite (2019); rather than invade the palatial estate where the wealthy family resides, however, the daughter makes herself look as presentable as possible and passes as wealthy in a scheme to convince the wealthy family's son to marry her.

On that level, it reminds of too many movies to mention and it all might be objectionably insufferable if not for declaring its intent from the start. Directed by Vu Ngoc Dang, The Trophy Bride plays everything for laughs, and so even its eventual turn to slightly more dramatic material as it draws to a conclusion is not to be taken seriously.

It's all light and fluffy, and, frankly, not my kind of comedy at all, especially since I got the sense that I missed some jokes and didn't fully undertand the social context of much of the humor, beyond the basic rich people/poor people. But in a week that's been emotionally draining, we all need something to take our minds off the breaking news, and The Trophy Bride offers some scattered solace and a smile or two.