This movie is one big surprise, both for the main character and for the audience. Max Bright (Patrick Warburton) is having a lot of trouble with women — mostly because he is a huge misogynist. When he decides he’s fed up with American women, he buys a Chinese mail-order bride. When she arrives, Mai Ling (Marie Matiko) seems like the perfect wife, but when she refuses to strip for his friends, Max discovers she isn’t at all what he thought. Ultimately, she is revealed to be the only person who might be able to help Max turn himself around.
What’s a surprise for the audience is that the film starts off like a comedy, but is soon delving into spiritual realms and life-and-death matters with incredible sensitivity. There is a point to be made here, but the filmmakers don’t preach at us through their characters; they let this saga of a man whose ego has run completely amuck unfold at its own pace.
Screens 3/10, 9:00 pm (California Theater); 3/12, 4:30 pm (Camera 12); 3/13, 4:30 pm (Camera 12)