Chicago Tribune

Movie review: Playing a delicate game of Chinese family charades in 'The Farewell'

"The Farewell" sustains a mood, tone and strategy of clean lines, orderly framing and emotional containment. But that doesn't mean writer-director Lulu Wang's second feature lacks what you might call the movie stuff: the stuff of laughs, tears and, even if your family is a different sort of family entirely, the power of narrative persuasion.

While Wang may stint occasionally on the sort of character detail separating a very good film from a great one, "The Farewell" takes you to a

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Chicago Tribune

Chicago Tribune4 min read
Chicago Bears Had ‘Deep Conversations’ About Keeping Justin Fields And Drafting A QB, But Trade Was ‘Best For Organization And Best For Justin’
ORLANDO, Fla. – When the time came for the Chicago Bears to trade Justin Fields, general manager Ryan Poles went over to coach Matt Eberflus’ house so they could make the phone call to their quarterback together. Poles called the conversation earlier
Chicago Tribune3 min read
Commentary: We Are Seeing A Lethal Shift In America’s Gun Violence Crisis
While gun violence declined last year, a closer look at the data reveals a striking and surprising trend. While the total number of shootings is going down, the lethality of shootings — the odds of someone dying in a shooting — seems to be going up.
Chicago Tribune4 min read
‘Shirley’ Review: Now On Netflix, The Story Of The First Black Congresswoman On The ’72 Campaign Trail
Two hours: Is it enough for even a part of any person’s real life, dramatized? The biopic form practically demands failure, or at least a series of narrative compromises made under pressure from so many factions: the real-life subject, or keepers of

Related Books & Audiobooks