Eat With Me (2014)

Load of rubbish!!

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Eat With Me had been in my recommendations on Netflix for ages, so finally I decided to watch it. I watch quite a few of the LGBT films on Netflix as I am a member of that community so it is nice to see it represented on film once in a while.However, I found this film just boring. Very little really happens, and when it does its so random it doesn't look or feel realistic. It feels like a plot point.The relationship between Elliot and his mother was quite sweet to watch as they reconnected with each other, and there is one hilarious scene where the mother Emma, ends up accidentally taking drugs with the nextdoor neighbour.On to the gay relationship part of the movie, the love interest, Ian, was just terrible terrible terrible - bland and clichéd. Whoever the actor is, his name fails me now he left so little impression, delivered his lines like something from a local amateur dramatic society play. Wooden, and like he was directly reading off a page from the script. There was very little development of the relationship between Elliot and Ian, and because there was no real timeline to follow you couldn't really tell how far along they were supposed to be. Neither did I really care by the end of it.The movie comes to a fairly abrupt and unsatisfying ending that doesn't really tie up any loose ends from what plot there was.To sum up, a dull distraction. Something to watch when you have nothing else to.

The characters aren't interesting, the story isn't interesting (or plausible), and the pacing is excruciatingly slow. I don't mind slow if it's good slow. This is bad slow.There is nothing original to be seen here. All these characters--even these Asian characters--have been seen before. The dialog is completely flat. If there's an uninteresting way to say something, this writer found it. There were a couple scenes where I could pretty much say the line to come before it was said--it was that predictable and trite.It was difficult for me to believe the central character was gay. A gay guy who owns a restaurant that's failing because the food is so dull? I don't think so. Not that we know what's wrong with the food exactly. We just know that nobody likes it. The miraculous turn-around ending of the movie was just as inexplicable. Better dumplings? Nice chairs, nice white tablecloths? Wait, what?Dumb me. I thought I might be in for an Eat Drink Man Woman quality movie, and perhaps that's what it aspired to, but this is the polar opposite of that film.

Okay IMDb you need to fix your rating system. It's a very sweet down to earth life film that doesn't try to be anything more than it is. It has very funny moments and awkward ones. You will enjoy it a lot more if you don't put everything under the microscope. Shannon Omi played the role very well and it was very impressive to see an older Asian woman as the main character. I enjoyed watching Emma's journey of discovering/reinventing herself and breaking stereotypes as an Asian woman. Overall it was well developed with solid characters and good watch for anyone who wants to try something outside the mainstream.

I saw this film at Frameline 38 in San Francisco on June 26, 2014 at 4 pm at the magnificent Castro Theater. This is the funniest movie I have seen in years. Outstanding performances from Sharon Omi and Teddy Chen Culver as Mom and Son - who have no idea how to communicate with each other. Mom leaves Dad (because they don't know how to communicate with each other) moves in with Son and wackiness happens. Nicole Sullivan is the free spirited next door neighbor who steals every scene she is in. David Au's writing is brilliant and Nicole's comedic delivery and timing is perfect. George Takai makes a wonderful appearance and there are some dumplings thrown in the mix. This is a fabulous, fun, family film with food and everyone should see it. I saw 25 films at Frameline this year and this was my favorite.