Combination Platter

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Combination Platter
Combinationplatter.jpeg
Directed byTony Chan[3]
Screenplay by
  • Edwin Baker[4]
  • Tony Chan
Produced by
Tony Chan[3][5]
Starring
  • Jeffrey Lau[3]
  • Colleen O'Brien
  • Lester Chit-Man Chan
  • Colin Mitchell
  • Kenneth Lu
  • Thomas K. Hsiung
  • Ellen Synn
Production
company
Bluehorse Films[2]
Release date
  • March 27, 1993 (1993-03-27)
[1]
Running time
84 minutes[2][6]
CountryUnited States[2]
LanguageEnglish[2]
Budget$250,000[5][7]

Combination Platter is a 1993 drama[2][1] film directed by Tony Chan and starring Jeffrey Lau, Colleen O'Brien, and Lester Chit-Man Chan. It is the directorial debut of Tony Chan.

The film follows the story of Robert (Jeffrey Lau), a young illegal immigrant, who lives in Flushing, Queens, seeking to marry a U.S. citizen so he can stay in the country legally.[5][4][6][7]

Plot[]

The film details the difficulties faced by young undocumented immigrant Robert (Jeffrey Lau), working at a low-paying job at a Szechuan restaurant in Flushing, Flushing, Queens, New York.[1] Robert wants to obtain U.S. citizenship and is told that this is possible if he marries an American woman (which is played by O'Brien).[4][6][7] He initially frets the idea, but decides to Americanize himself in the shortest time possible.[1] The character, in addition, sends money to his parents, along with letters which show a false positivity of his life in America.[5][4] One waiter, Sam (Lester "Chit Man" Chan) receives major debts which causes him to pocketing communal tips.[5] Robert is impressed by a pair of regulars, a young white man, and his Asian- American girlfriend.[5]

His boss (Thomas K. Suing) thinks business is too slow to create tax penalties for sponsoring Robert,[4] and if he were to do so, it would take Robert about five years to get his card. He also wants to bring his parents to America.[4] A classy woman offers from $25, 000 to $50, 000 to marry Robert for convenience.[4] Later, he lets his street-smart friend Andy sets him up with a shy, lonely white woman (Colleen O' Brien).[5][4][7] They're relationship is inconclusive; they have hardly anything in common and not much to say to each other.[5][7] They end up breaking up with her because he admits he is using her.[5] Things get bad at work. Robert affronts Sam about his theft and gets him fired.[5] Later on, the Department of Immigration raids the restaurant, with Robert closely hiding in the walk-in freezer.[5][7] He returns to work with the plight still undecided and watches as the young white man proposes to his girlfriend.[5]

Cast[]

  • Jeffrey Lau as Robert[3][1]
  • Colleen O' Brien as Claire
  • as Sam
  • Colin Mitchell as Benny
  • Kenneth Lau as Andy
  • Thomas K. Hsuing as Mr. Lee
  • Ellen Synn as Jennie
  • Nathaniel Geng as Glasshead
  • Jia Fu Liu as Dishwasher
  • Peter Kwong as Stanley
  • Eleonora Kihlberg as Noriko
  • James Dumont as James

Production[]

The film was shot at Flushing Meadows Park, Queens and at Rego Park, Queens.[5] Combination platter was shot in 24 days,[5] after hours at the restaurant owned by the parents of the filmmaker Tony Chan. The young Hong Kong born producer spent a year editing the footage in the kitchen of his family's Long Island home and spent a handful of days each restaurant doing restaurant work.[5]

Critical reception[]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
TV Guide[5]

Reviews for Combination Platter have been mild. Praise has been given to film's plot. Kevin Thomas of Los Angeles Times wrote "Chan, whose parents own the actual restaurant in the film, is able to break through the monolithic view whites so often have of Chinese people.[4]" Meanwhile, TV Guide wrote a similar comment,

"Chan's film confronts racial stereotyping by telling the stories of those too often excluded from the table of mass culture.[5]"

TV Guide also wrote, "Combination Platter presents some New York neighborhoods rarely shown in films or on TV and Chan utilizes his limited locations with aplomb."

Praise was especially given to the characters of the film. David Mills of The Washington Post said, "Colleen O'Brien is touching as a shy white woman who goes out with Robert, unaware of his need for a marriage of convenience.[7]" He also commented, "Chan surrounds Robert with an interesting mix of characters... street-smart buddy Andy, who is helping him find a wife, seems especially hip when he's speaking in New Yawk-inflected English. Lester "Chit-Man" Chan brings scowling authenticity to the part of Sam, the grumpy waiter who likes to insult his American customers in Chinese, right in front of their faces." TV Guide also wrote positively of Sam, "Lester "Chit Man" Chan's foul-tempered Sam is much more fun.[5]

In addition, the film was exalted for its reflection of conflicts of the community. TV Guide wrote,

"The restaurant reflects the conflicts of the community: white vs. Asian; "ABC"s vs. immigrants; Hong Kong vs. Taiwan; and Mandarin-speaking vs. Cantonese-speaking.[5]"

David Mills of The Washington Post wrote, "The multilingual dialogue in Combination Platter (with occasional English subtitles)... examines ... cultural conflicts among the Chinese—between immigrants and "ABCs" (American-born Chinese), between those who speak Cantonese and those who speak Mandarin.[7]" Kevin Thomas of Los Angeles Times wrote, "within the restaurant's staff there is a language barrier[4] between those Chinese who speak only Cantonese and those who speak only Mandarin. Then there's the owner's... American-born niece Jennie (Ellen Synn), the restaurant's cashier, who knows neither dialect--and eats Chinese food with a fork instead of chopsticks." In addition, he wrote of the conflict, "Jennie's unfamiliarity with her ancestral language puts her in a situation[4] similar to that of the restaurant's only white employee (Colin Mitchell), who's razzed by his friends for working in a Chinese restaurant in the first place."

Year-end lists[]

  • Honorable mention – Duane Dudek, Milwaukee Sentinel[8]

Trivia[]

The film is shot in the restaurant Szechuan Inn, which is owned by Chan's parents.[5][4][7]

Awards and nominations[]

Year Category Recipient Result
1993 Sundance Film Festival[9] Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award Tony Chan and Edwin Baker Won
1993 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize (dramatic) Tony Chan Nominated
9th Independent Spirit Awards Best First Feature Tony Chan (director/producer) and Judy Moy (producer) Nominated
9th Independent Spirit Awards Best Screenplay Edwin Baker and Tony Chan Nominated

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e "Robert would like to attain U.S. citizenship". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Combination Platter Background Information". IMDb. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "Combination Platter cast and crew". IMDb. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Thomas, Kevin (February 16, 1994). "LA Times Summary". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "Robert is a young illegal alien seeking citizenship". TV Guide. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
  6. ^ a b c "Robert is desperate to get Green Card". Letterboxd. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Mills, David (January 21, 1994). "Chan gives Robert an interesting mix of characters". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
  8. ^ Dudek, Duane (December 30, 1994). "1994 was a year of slim pickings". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 3.
  9. ^ "Combination Platter Awards". IMDb. Retrieved January 30, 2016.

External links[]

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