Blue Bayou and Cry Macho – Movie Reviews

Directed, produced, and acted by Justin Chon, Blue Bayou is a 2021 film about a Korean immigrant facing deportation. With a solid first hour, the acting performances in this movie were raw, particularly the relationship between the primary character and his stepdaughter was endearing to watch. There’s a subplot of him and a Vietnamese family that was also investing.

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The drama in Blue Bayou was solid and brought up a significant theme about the other side of immigration and deportation that surprised me. However, like a soccer player with remarkable dribbling skill but terrible finishing shot that always miss the goal, the last 20 minutes of this film became messy and ruined its buildup. I felt like I just skipped a part of this movie because a few supporting characters turned sides in a snap. Because of this, the ending wasted a ton of the emotional impact.

I loved that the script included the Vietnamese in the movie, but then I became perplexed, and honestly a bit annoyed, at how this subplot was meant only as a tool to add to the message. The Vietnamese characters had almost no relevance to the plot.

It was as if Justin Chon forced himself to include the Vietnamese because both the Korean and Vietnamese went through wars that led to mass immigration. Overall, a potentially impactful movie, but ruined by its forcing and questionable plot. Watch ‘Blue Bayou’ on MUBI here.

‘Blue Bayou’ Rating – 3.25/5

A new Clint Eastwood movie, Cry Macho, sticks to the template of playing safe religiously. The whole plot of this movie was too overdone, and there was almost no attempt to add anything new to the story. Even worse, the drama was weak, with barely any tension. The antagonists in this movie barely had any scene, and they seemed like they didn’t even care enough to get their goal.

The primary duo had little trouble in their journey, and I didn’t really care much for them, especially the kid character, as he was too ignorant and acted like a spoiled kid even though he spent a lot of time on the street. Even though Clint Eastwood’s character was decent, his acting was pretty off in certain scenes, especially with his monotonic voice.

The decent part of the movie was the time the duo spent with a woman and some children. There were sweet moments that made me smile. Since the film played very safe, the other aspects were just mediocre and not terrible, and I guess that’s a positive? Overall, a textbook mediocre movie. Watch ‘Cry Macho’ on HBO MAX here.

‘Cry Macho’ Rating – 3.25/5

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