(2014, 95 min)
Country: U.S.
Director: David Au
Studio: Wolfe Releasing
Language: English
SYNOPSIS: The award-winning Eat With Me, is a charming comedy-drama about a mother and her gay son who heal, connect and grow together as the son’s Chinese restaurant faces foreclosure. As gay chef Elliot (Teddy Chen Culver) tries to find new love with handsome blue-eyed Brit Ian (Aidan Bristow), perhaps his newly-separated mother (Sharon Omi) will find her way towards acceptance of her son as well. Eat With Me also features a terrific turn from Nicole Sullivan as Elliot’s hilarious neighbor and a special appearance by George Takei.
REVIEW:
Have you ever seen a film that, all things considered, should have earned your admiration and respect, despite its inevitable flaws, but you can’t rationalize or excuse just how bad it is? For me, this was one of those films.
The film comes to us from director David Au, whose many hats include producer, writer, and editor. It’s based on Fresh Like Strawberries (2003), a short film he created that aired on LOGO over ten years ago. Sharon Omi and Teddy Chen Culver reprise their roles as mother and son, respectively, estranged and trying to reconnect in his fleshing out of that short story in his debut feature-film, Eat With Me, which premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival in June 2013.
After her cold, distant husband, Ray (Ken Narasaki), cuts off his “headache-inducing” wedding band, it proves to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back for Emma (Sharon Omi), who packs a single suitcase and travels to her estranged son Elliot’s (Teddy Chen Culver) struggling Chinese restaurant. There, she surprises him with the news that she needs a place to stay, no questions asked. Awkward and reluctant, but loyal, he allows her to take over his bed while he sleeps on the couch. The minute she steps into his apartment, however, she unleashes a soft but persistent criticism of his ways of living. Their only shared interest is food, and Elliot could use some help from his mother in spicing up the menu of his restaurant, which is threatened financially. As they slowly, but carefully, bridge the generational and cultural divide that separates them – and after she discovers his heretofore hidden sexuality – they learn to speak to each other in the only way they know how: great food.
The story is well-thought out and has great potential for some genuine moments, but the execution – most of which can be reasonably explained by the production’s budget – handicaps the film from really taking off. It seeks to be seen as an “LGBT film” without being an “LGBT film”; mainly, that the story contains elements attracting an LGBT audience while at the same time avoiding the many traps of LGBT cinema: stereotypes, poor scripts, narrow narrative focus, etc… Due to its potential, it’s surprising that the film still feels as if it was released by TLA Releasing; it features amateurish production value complemented by “wooden” acting. It feels awkward and without a cohesive framework to move the story along; the result is a weak film with a poor script that struggles to achieve the emotional weight it desires to convey, which feels rather forced.
The film does achieve a high point, however, when Emma accidentally ingests some ecstasy belonging to her son’s outgoing neighbor, Maureen (MADtv‘s Nicole Sullivan). While it doesn’t feel entirely authentic, it at least injects some liveliness to the otherwise boring proceedings. It’s also the scene that allows Sharon Omi to prove her acting abilities, and it’s infectious how liberated she seems to be given the chance.
If the director can somehow manage to lock down a bigger budget and superior script for his next film, I think he has the ability to produce a fine film. It’s not the chef, it’s the recipe, that needs adjustment.
-- Reviewed by Drew Stelter, FilmBook (www.film-book.com)
