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The Wedding Banquet (Xi yan)

The Wedding Banquet (Xi yan) (1993)

tomatometer

96

Average Rating: 7.3/10
Reviews Counted: 26
Fresh: 25 | Rotten: 1

Ang Lee's funny and ultimately poignant comedy of manners reveals the filmmaker's skill across genres.

100

Average Rating: 7.7/10
Critic Reviews: 8
Fresh: 8 | Rotten: 0

Ang Lee's funny and ultimately poignant comedy of manners reveals the filmmaker's skill across genres.

audience

85

liked it
Average Rating: 3.9/5
User Ratings: 7,737

My Rating

Movie Info

A gay New Yorker stages a marriage of convenience with a young woman to satisfy his traditional Taiwanese family, but the wedding becomes a major inconvenience when his parents fly in for the ceremony. Director Ang Lee came to international prominence with this warm-hearted comedy, which centers on the farcical confusion that emerges from this deception. Gao Wai Tung (Winston Chao) has never shared the truth about his sexuality with his family, and hopes to disguise his long-term relationship

Jun 15, 2004

Cast

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All Critics (26) | Top Critics (8) | Fresh (25) | Rotten (1) | DVD (4)

A very adroit and entertaining social comedy.

April 4, 2012 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader
Chicago Reader
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Most of this is smoothly done and scripted with plenty of incident.

February 23, 2012 Full Review Source: Variety
Variety
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Never patronising his characters, Ang Lee combines comedy, both subtle and raucous, with acute social asides.

January 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out
Time Out
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It is the unusual film comedy in which the humor springs as much from character as from situation.

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times
New York Times
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Ang's elegantly orchestrated farce is generous with hilarious moments.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Washington Post
Washington Post
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The Wedding Banquet never becomes bogged down by its own seriousness. Lee manages to keep the production buoyant by including scenes that are often riotously funny.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: ReelViews
ReelViews
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Lee sustains the bubbling hilarity, but also provides quieter, deeper observation of the characters' motives and moods.

April 4, 2012 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide
TV Guide's Movie Guide

This tale of a marriage of convenience charms and amuses with strong comedic performances with a great script and some beautifully shot sequences.

April 4, 2012 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine
Empire Magazine

Cultural clashes all over the place in this sweet and gently comedy.

April 4, 2012 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine
Empire Magazine

Lee's control of his characters is already pretty masterful: this is a smart, funny and moving work.

April 4, 2012 Full Review Source: Film4
Film4

This sharply observed madcap comedy, about a marriage of convenience between a gay Taiwanese American and a Chinese woman, examines the primacy of the individual within a culture that worships authority and rewards conformity.

October 31, 2006 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com
EmanuelLevy.Com

A thoughtful and ultimately deeply moving story about family ties, tradition, and acceptance.

August 1, 2004 Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com
Filmcritic.com

Fine, subtle, moving Ang Lee film.

August 13, 2003
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

clever, consistently funny and unexpectedly poignant to boot

July 29, 2002
Kalamazoo Gazette

This is an enjoyable film, though perhaps not as good as word-of-mouth would have it.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews
rec.arts.movies.reviews

The Wedding Banquet wins fans with its sunny disposition as it turns a contemporary story about a marriage of convenience into a deft bedroom farce and humanist drama.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle
Austin Chronicle

I just never found myself caring quite enough.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews
rec.arts.movies.reviews

Audience Reviews for The Wedding Banquet (Xi yan)

Wonderful portrait of what seems like a good idea at the time which spins wildly out of control and changes everyone involved, ultimately for the better even if its not immediately apparent at the time. Beautiful ending.
May 4, 2008
jjnxn
jay nixon

Super Reviewer

Ang Lee's portrayal of the hot gay love pre-Brokeback. It's sweeter, wittier, and infinitely more Asian. The girl was a bitch.
June 9, 2007
jennifxu

Super Reviewer

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