LosAngelesTimes
Sheri Linden
Yet another comedy about an immature, smack-talking Chinese American NBA wannabe who discovers his inner grown-up through the challenge of a table-tennis tournament? Ping Pong Playa breathes fresh life into the tired, bloated sports-comedy formula -- while remaining utterly formulaic. The movie doesn't take its broad, jokey premise terribly far, but it manages to sustain a goofy-sweet comic energy and offers sly observations about assimilation, sibling rivalry and the art of competitive maternal bragging.
The unlikely director of this winning silliness is Jessica Yu, whose superb documentaries explore such rarefied matters as outsider art (
In the Realms of the Unreal) and the nature of fanaticism (
Protagonist).
Yu's co-writer, Jimmy Tsai, makes an assured big-screen debut as Christopher "C-dub" Wang, a 20-something layabout who takes great, aggressive pleasure in correcting white people's mispronunciations of Chinese names and blocking the shots of kids half his size on the basketball court. He also rides a child-size scooter. When injuries sideline his mother and upright doctor brother, he reluctantly answers the call to carry on the family pingpong tradition. Gleefully tackling Asian stereotypes, the movie isn't above indulging in others, yet it never strikes a condescending attitude.