A Great Divide

I had mixed feelings about this movie after seeing it as part of a festival run. Perhaps I went in with too high expectations because I fit the target audience. I'll start with the positives. I thought Ken Jeong was awesome as was Jamie McShane from Wednesday and Miya Cech an up and comer from Netflix and Disney. Smart casting of some better known actors. The woman playing the grandma and the teen boy that is a local bully were both good too. A big problem for me was the portrayal of exaggerated racism that didn't feel realistic even as a person of Korean descent. The movie moved slowly at times and the story line was disjointed. Overall I liked about as much as I disliked so I'll give it 5 stars.

As an Asian American dad, I'm happy to see a movie like this on screen. I loved Ken Jeong in a drama role and the storyline brought me to tears several times. I could relate to the relationships and heartbreak the characters felt. Beautifully shot and hopefully brings some insight to those who have not dealt with racism and prejudice before. The movie is an education in what many Asian Americans have felt for generations and continue to feel, especially during the pandemic. It's a story that needed to be told and makes me feel seen as an Asian American man. I hope to see more movies like this one.

I found this movie unexpected and really rewarding to watch. Yes, there were clichés but they're real life clichés, and the sum of the movie made everything fit and seem new and relevatory. I think this is due to the honesty in which the various themes and charactors stories were handled which made this movie wholly original. The performances were all amazing and the story was beautiful, gentle and real even with some of it's harsh reality.

I hope this kind of heartfelt, understated and beautiful movie starts a trend. It's what we need at this time. A movie that will help people breathe, heal and grow up.

I was looking forward to this film because I love the actor who played the dad. However, I was not a fan. The message was good, but I couldn't stand the acting by the son and Elli. The acting was so bad or their lines were not great. The actor who played the son gave dull energy, and the girl was over exaggerating. Why did they make the son's character dumb. It lacked storylines, and it did not give history off the only characters in the story. If they were meant to be in middle school, then it was okay acting because they were super naive. But if the characters were supposed to be in high school, why did the writers make them sound dumb. Everyone else did good acting wise. The scenery in the film is a nice close up of Yellowstone. This movie had potential and maybe they wanted the message to shine more than the plot and acting which is my takeaway of the film. I wish they either made it a horror like how strong Get Out was because the quiet scenes felt a little like that, but the communication in the film was cringey and forced. Again, if the goal was to feel good about being part of such an impactful film given the 2020 rise of racism towards Asians, then that was the only thing achieved in the film.

As a person of German and European decent, i have had the unfortunate experience of watching racism from this side of things. Which i truly detest. Every day in Texas, it rains down on people that never deserved it and im sure its everywhere. My trip to Missouri gleaned some of the same, i didnt see a person of any color than mine, in that town, until i visited St Louis. I can attest to the fact that this level of racism exists and I'm sorry that my people are downplaying reality.

As i watched, my toes and jaw clenched, the drama is there, the realism is there, and it was easy to relive the experiences I've had watching others being bullied and tricked based on being different.

As always, the male lead is a phenomenal actor, as is his partner, id love to see all 4 of them in any future movies.

You picked the perfect people to play the antagonists. Maybe it should have been set it Texas, because whew ..... does it spark some memories.

If you are a person of similar descent like mine, and you're more on the conservative side, just go watch the movies that depict you in a better light. A lack of empathy on your part does not mean your review of this movie is authentic or right.