Long Life, Happiness and Prosperity (2002)

Review by All Movie Guide
Although its heartwarming subject matter and magic-realist trappings don't lend Mina Shum's third feature much of an edge, this breezy snapshot of community conflict and camaraderie exhibits a lightness of touch and an acute understanding of human foibles and aspirations. Especially in its somewhat forced climax, Long Life, Happiness and Prosperity isn't as assured as Double Happiness, the director's previous collaboration with actress Sandra Oh. But it's also broader in scope and more flat-out funny than its justly celebrated predecessor. Once again, Shum exhibits quiet technical mastery and a gift for framing shots as inventive as they are integral to her story. And once again, her work benefits immensely from Oh's warm screen presence, sarcastic edge, and superb comic timing. (God bless HBO's Arli$$ for giving Oh a steady enough paycheck to keep appearing in worthy indies like this.) Child actors are often the bane of the family film, but Valerie Tian's Mindy is as realistically sweet-and-sour a "tween" as any such character to grace the big screen in recent memory. The rest of the cast, too, brims with quiet craft, from Ric Young's atypically comic turn to the performance of Alannah Ong, another otherwise underutilized Shum veteran. Naysayers may claim that the immigrant culture-clash comedy has worn out its welcome, but Long Life suggests that it's become just another genre, capable of sinking -- or, in this case, rising -- to the level of the filmmakers' vision. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide